Spawning Jealousy Chapter
by skywolf666
Summary: Post Kai. Two weeks ago he'd been sitting in Angel Mort talking to Shion about why Mion had been acting so strange recently and now he was lying on the pavement. A single conversation had stirred up quite a list of misunderstandings. Keiichi/Mion
1. Plan

_He wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten himself into this predicament, all Keiichi really knew was that one moment he'd been cocking his fist back and ready to plow it right into the face of the offending boy who had been openly taunting him, and the next he was on the ground while blood poured from his nose. He could hear Mion shouting something rather vulgar over the ringing in his ears and the louder protests of the boy he'd nearly assaulted arguing with her. They both sounded pretty mad but from what he heard from Mion, as he had come to expect, she was winning the argument and sounded quite prepared to use violence if his attacker didn't shut up. _

"_You dumbass, you could have killed him! Why did you do that?!"_

"_Mion-chan, he came at me! What did you expect me to do, let him sock me!?"_

"_YES!"_

_Through all of this, Keiichi's head spun rapidly and he was completely and utterly confused by how two weeks ago he'd been sitting in Angel Mort talking to Shion about why Mion had been acting so strange recently and now he was lying on the pavement. Somehow, that single conversation had stirred up quite a list of misunderstandings, shouting matches, three punishment games and now it ended with him on the ground with possibly a broken nose and a concussion. His eyes rolled as his body relaxed, and the last thing he remembered was the feeling of warm hands cupping his face and Mion's voice calling to him worriedly above the annoying ringing in his head._

"_Kei-chan, Kei-chan! __**Keiichi**__!"_

* * *

**Two Weeks Earlier**

Keiichi let out a low breath, pillowing his head on his arms as he waited tiredly for Shion to finish her shift so she could sit with him and talk as he'd planned when he first arrived at Angel Mort. While he knew it was bordering insanity to come all the way to Okinomiya when he could simply talk to her at school, he hadn't wanted to play the risk of being overheard by the others about this particular matter. He knew that Rena would follow him and pester him mercilessly for even broaching the subject, and Satoko would be impossible to deal with for months if she heard him worrying about their fearless and merciless team leader.

So, it had only made sense that he went to the girl who knew Mion best, and since it seemed to be safe enough to talk to her in Angel Mort, he'd arranged to meet her there after her shift ended. That was half an hour ago, and full from the dessert he'd ordered, he was on the verge of passing out at the table to be at the mercy of the waitresses. Sometimes he wasn't sure who scared him more, the Angel Mort's fanclub that consisted of a variety of perverts, older men and teenage boys that were borderline obsessed, or the waitresses themselves, who seemed perfectly capable of kicking any and all who dared to get too touchy feel-y with them.

His eyelids started to droop, reminding him that he'd barely had much sleep the past week, he had been too stressed out by studying for exams and worrying over Mion's out-of-character behaviour. She had been leaving school early for nearly a week, cancelling every club activity and always growing anxious whenever she was asked about where she was leaving to. At first he'd expected it was just a new job that she didn't want to admit to having, but after a few days of continued rushing offs, he'd asked her directly where she was heading off to. Her answer had surprised him, her face had reddened sharply and she all but fled from him with a hasty promise to tell him later. That had been three days ago, and she hadn't spoken directly to him since.

"Sorry to make you wait Kei-chan, I had to–" Shion cut herself off with a little chuckle when she saw the poor teen face-down in his empty ice-cream dish. Sliding elegantly into the opposite bench, she cupped her face in one hand, watching him with mild amusement. 'I can totally see why sis likes him... He's downright adorable when he doesn't try to play it cool. The idiot doesn't know what he's missing.' Straightening her shirt, she had changed from her uniform because she didn't want to see his eyes straying over her body _again_, she tried to decide whether or not to wake him or watch him.

Her decision was made quickly, she knew well enough that Mion would kill her if she stole any unnecessary time with Keiichi, and as much as she enjoyed tormenting her sister, love was not something she was going to meddle in. Not to the point that she was sabotaging her own safety in the process anyway. Knowing that he'd be furious if she allowed him to sleep with his face in a dish, Shion reached forward to poke his head as gently as possible. He snorted but didn't move, and stifling snickers, she poked him again, this time rocking his head. Barely able to contain herself, she lifted his head with one hand and pinched his nose with the other, waiting for him to react. "Pfft..."

"Ughn, gerroff..." Keiichi groaned, his words slurred as he waved halfheartedly at the blockage on his nose. Shion's laughter cut through his sleepy haze, and the teen snapped immediately to attention. Blushing pink at his foolishness, Keiichi began to apologize as quickly as possible for delaying her. "Sorry about that Shion, I've just been really tired lately–"

"It's fine Kei-chan, you brightened my day anyway just by showing up when you did." Shion waved off his apology with one hand, her other still propping up her head as she cupped her chin. Fingers playfully drumming against her cheek, she waited for his embarrassment to settle before she greeted him cheerfully. "So, first off I guess I ought to thank you for waiting for me to get off my shift, and sorry I'm late but I didn't want to talk to you in my uniform."

"That's understandable." Keiichi allowed, though inwardly he groaned at his loss. He had always liked spotting Shion in the skimpy black material, though he would never admit that he always had difficulty remembering that it wasn't Mion who was sporting the goods. The idea made him darken a little in the face, and he was quick to get back to the reason why he'd come. "So, uh, I guess you know why I wanted to talk to you here, right...?"

"Yeah, it's about Sis, isn't it?" Shion smiled rather innocently, but her eyes glinted with mischief that told Keiichi that he had to be careful treading this ground. Though he hadn't had to face Shion's wrath before when it came to Mion, he knew that the twins were fiercely protective of each other and wouldn't hesitate to use violence to protect one another. Folding her hands under her chin, Shion continued to grin and questioned in a purr, "So what exactly do you want to know about Mion, Kei-chan, and how can I help you?"

"Well, uh... She's been acting weird lately, I know you've noticed... She's pretty much quit the club for the last week, she gets all embarrassed when anyone asks her why and she won't talk to me." Keiichi explained halfheartedly, his shoulders sinking in on themselves as he thought of it. While he never would admit it aloud, Mion was his best friend and he rather enjoyed her company, especially when it came to club activities. Even if he lost he was having fun. However, she hadn't been around and it had shown the boy exactly what he was missing when she was gone, and it saddened him to think that he was losing her. "Is she mad at me or something? Did I say anything to hurt her feelings?"

'He doesn't know about Uncle Kazumi's visit? She never told them?' Shion blinked, puzzled by this knowledge. While her father and mother weren't entirely kosher in the eyes of her family, her uncles all played a major part in the family's schemes and business plans. A few of her cousins were now staying in the estate for the next month or two, which meant that Mion had to increase the time she spent at home instead of at school. However, Keiichi didn't know of this or what else was keeping her sister busy, and she saw the perfect opportunity sitting in front of her on a silver platter.

'I'd have to be an idiot not to take this. Shion, my dear, you are so going to get it when your sister finds out what you've done, but you _cannot_ pass this up!'

Years of practise and swapping with Mion allowed her to pull out a completely angelic expression, and a slight tilt of her head put the cherry on top of the facade. As innocently as she possibly could, she suggested slyly to the surprised Keiichi, "You can't tell? Mion has a _boyfriend_."

"B-Boyfriend!?" Keiichi repeated in alarm, blinking several times as he tried to piece the knowledge together in his rather frazzled head. It was the simplest of equations yet his team leader's name and the word 'boyfriend' just didn't seem to fit together in the same sentence. Shion just continued smirking at him, relishing his astonishment, and he didn't have the state of mind to be annoyed with her smug look. "Mion has a _boyfriend_!? Mion, the goddess of heaven and hell, your twin sister, my club leader, _Mion_!?"

"How many times would you like me to repeat myself Kei-chan?" Shion purred with delight, playfully reaching over to drum her knuckles against his forehead. He had slumped back in his seat with an expression of pure shock and it truly amused the green-haired teen. His eyes shone with an unfathomable array of emotion, and Shion thought she spotted a hint of anger in his violet irises, and that alone gave her all the ammunition she would need to carry out the rest of her plan. Tilting her head and clapping her hands together smartly, she chirped, "Mion, my darling sister and your fearless club leader has a boyfriend. That's why she's been so erratic, it's quite simple. So does everything make sense to you now?"

"Mion... has a boyfriend." Keiichi repeated numbly, still processing the information he had just been handed. It all seemed so strange, as though everything he had ever learned was now proven to be the opposite of what he'd believed. Glancing towards the window, he half expected to find the daylight turned into an inky blackness but the world still seemed to be in its proper order. Shaking his head several times, he turned back to the grinning Shion and tried to speak only to realize that his throat had tightened.

Swallowing loudly, he tried again but achieved the same results, a strained silence that pulled inside of his chest. The sheer absurdity of it all left him astounded, but there was something else that stirred in his stomach and let out a soft growling noise of discontent. Very suddenly, he didn't like this idea, even if it was something totally foreign to him. Shion must have seen this in his face and her smile broadened, and his annoyance doubled. Hands splayed flat on the table, he leaned close to her and hissed, "When did she hook up with this guy? What's his name?"

"Kei-chan, you should know better than to pinch information from me. Sis would be angry if she found out you were too chicken to ask her yourself." Shion chided him teasingly, though she knew that he wasn't too pleased with her evasion. She simply couldn't help it, the fun was already rolling on a fever pitch and she knew it was simply too late to stop the disaster she'd put into motion. Wagging her finger in a scolding gesture, she continued in a matter-of-fact tone, "You can't just milk me for the goods, if you want to know about Sis' love life, go and ask her yourself." She paused to let the idea sink into his head, then before he could make a chance to move, her eyes glinted and she added in a casual voice, "But I have to wonder, why are you so suddenly interested in who Mion's involved with? It never seemed to cross your mind before, I don't think you even bothered to ask if she was with someone when you first got here, right?"

Keiichi froze and then he felt a burning sensation jumping from his stomach and into his face. Abruptly shamed, he had to look away from the girl's knowing smirk and instead he stared at the table. His mind had done a total one-eighty turn because he knew she was right, and he grit his teeth in annoyance. 'I never did ask her, I just assumed she wasn't seeing anyone. For all I know she could've been dating this guy for months before I came along, she just never said anything. Dammit Maebara, why don't you think before you act!? Damn!' "N-No... I never asked if your sister was dating someone..."

"Was it because you wanted to ask her out?" Shion slid the question in as if it was the most casual thing to say in the world but Keiichi's reaction proved that it was anything but. His face turned the colour of his vest and he went ramrod straight as though a pole had been shoved into his spine. Shion nearly punched the air in victory, but many years of self-control kept her seated and smiling instead of dancing around the restaurant like she ached to do. 'Oh yes, got him! Haha, oh Sis you're so lucky you've got a twin like me!' Her voice was teasing as she leaned close, pretending to whisper and look honestly startled by his embarrassment, "Oh you _did_? I didn't know you liked my sister that way! It's such a pity that you never asked her out earlier, because I know Sis liked you too for a long time."

It seemed to be the day for shocks, however this time it wasn't just straightforward surprise that rocked him. A hint of pleasure sparked in his chest, and he nearly smiled at this new piece of information that Shion so readily handed out to him. Then he blinked, realizing that it wasn't the first time that Mion's twin had hinted it to him. He could remember it clearly now, how she leaned close to him and murmured softly into his ear how her sister still had someone she loved, while she herself had lost her own.

His body jolted upright again and his hands slammed down on the glass tabletop with much more force than he had intended. Shion jumped, clearly alarmed by his sudden change of mood, but Keiichi was beyond caring about this. He leaned close to her, eyes bright and shining with a youthful excitement that Shion had never seen before in him. It took some effort to keep his voice low and controlled, but he asked her in an excited hiss, "Shion, back in the caves you said that Mion had someone she loved. Did you mean me? She loved me?"

'Dumbass. You complete and utter moron of a man.' Shion rolled her eyes to the ceiling, unable to hide her disdain for his dimwittedness. Rubbing at her temples because dealing with him was giving her quite the headache, she had to forcibly remind herself that Mion was no longer 'available' to Keiichi and if she didn't keep up the charade she would most certainly get killed. Taking in a deep breath to steady her annoyance, she explained to him levelly, "Well, you know it's in the past tense now, right? She's got a boyfriend now, you were a bit too late realizing how Mion felt about you. She wasn't going to wait forever for you to take a hint. You lost your chance."

As quickly as his euphoria had come, it faded away to be replaced by a crushing wave of disappointment and guilt. She was right, and his entire ribcage seemed to shrink around his lungs and heart. The idea, as pleasing and exciting as it had been to know that Mion had liked him, it was totally out of his reach now. The pleasure had been given to him and taken away in a span of seconds, and he found himself mourning it with more strength then he knew he had. 'She's... She's right. Mion... moved on, didn't she? So it... doesn't matter anymore that she liked me, because she doesn't anymore... She's got a boyfriend...'

He didn't know why it bothered him so much, why his eyes burned and his chest ached like he'd been stabbed in the heart and his attacker was twisting the blade. It wasn't really as though he'd ever thought of asking the girl out on a date before, and he'd certainly never thought of her as anything more then a very good friend...

Several flashes of images raced through his head at once, melting together into a strangely cohesive picture of her expressions that burned into his mind. Her truly happy smile upon meeting him for the very first time, the pride in her eyes as she introduced him to his soon-to-be fellow club members. The sight of her triumphant grin as she beat him for the seventh straight time at Old Geezer and the unrestrained delight in her face when she took the doll from him and clutched it close to her chest, embarrassed by the gift but struggling to keep her cool. The sight of her back and her outstretched arms as she made herself a shield in front of the deranged Takano, willing herself to take a bullet for all of them and nonchalantly telling them, him, that nothing on Earth would make her happier than to ensure their safety.

'M-Mion...'

Shion turned her head away from his pained expression, nearly wincing with guilt. She hated to see the normally so heartened boy in so much confusion and pain, yet she couldn't find it in herself to try and comfort him through her teeth. 'It'll all work out... I just got to keep it going, for sis' sake.' Taking a moment to pinch herself fiercely in the arm, she leaned closer and said in a quiet voice, "Kei-chan, I'll tell you what, if you do me a favour, I'll tell you everything I know about the guy who's with Mion. Just don't tell Sis that I told you and keep it a secret that you know she's involved with him. She'd kill me for spreading the news around, especially to you and anyone else in the club."

"You'll... tell me all of that?" Keiichi questioned slowly, momentarily taken aback by the gentleness in Shion's voice. She was smiling a little, wearing an inviting smile on her strikingly feminine face, waiting for him to make his decision. He took a long moment, debating. Whatever he knew and whatever he was feeling, he wanted to protect Mion simply because she was important to him. His face hardened and he looked Shion square in the face, and for a moment he swore that she was proud of his decision even if he said nothing.

"Tell me everything Shion. Don't leave anything out."

**AN**

**Yesh, I'm back, and with a new chaptered story to boot. It shouldn't be all that long, seven chapters tops for a guesstimate, but I plan to have fun with this while I combat writer's block for my Tales of Symphonia project. To any of those who've played that game, does anyone recognize a similarity between SheLloyd and KeiMion or am I just nuts? They seem really similar, lol, I think that's why I fell in love with this pairing... Eh, I'm busy writing and giggling and fangirling and playing ToS so... XD**

**I blame sugar, daydreams, and boredom for this fanfiction, also a hyperactive plot fairy that refuses to leave me alone because sanity isn't legal in her world. Meh, the sane people are the weird ones, and I quote Lucky Star for this. (KONA-CHAN!) Ahem, anyway... Enter a cliche disclaimer here, and please hit the green button below because it makes kittens happy? XD**

**PS: Anyone who thinks Shion is going to get her ass kicked by the end of this story, raise your hand. (raises my own to start 8D)**

**Sky**


	2. Anxiety

**Sonozaki Residence**

Mion closed her eyes and buried her face in her knees, wishing for what had to be the millionth time that things were different. She could still see Keiichi's questioning eyes staring at her after he'd finally cornered her in the classroom, asking for answers on why she had been so strange as of late. As much as she'd wanted to tell him, she remembered Oryou's threatening promise that family matters were to remain family matters and no outsider was meant to know of them. To keep herself from breaking her word to keep things silent, she'd all but fled from Keiichi whenever she saw him, knowing that she'd slip if he asked her directly.

'Man, why do I like him so much? It makes it really hard to keep my mouth shut about this stuff...'

Her inner tirade was cut off quite abruptly when a pair of hands yanked on her ankles, dragging her off her porch to land ungracefully on her ass in the dirt. She started immediately, eyes flashing as she recognized the back of her assailant, racing off to the left, laughing maniacally as he went. Her frustration and sadness trickled into a controllable throbbing as she gave chase to the teenage boy, and she was abruptly glad for his presence.

Her voice however didn't say that as she roared at him, giving him a graphic account of all the torture she planned on putting him through when she got her hands around his throat. His answer was a mocking bark of a chuckle, which only made Mion press her legs harder so she could catch the dark-haired boy. She yelled after him, eyes flashing violently, "You're dead Kenji, _dead_!"

"Only if you can catch me, cousin!" Kenji shouted back grandly, but he turned his head to see how far behind she was and made his fatal error. Tripping on an uneven piece of earth, he staggered forward and Mion was close enough to see his mistake and take advantage of it. The poor nineteen year old never had a chance, Mion sprang into a tackle that nailed him from behind and sent him flying face first into the ground. "Damn!"

Mion laughed triumphantly, arranging herself on top of her older cousin, tugging his arms behind his back and sitting rather primly right on top of him. He grunted unhappily into the grass but she paid him no mind, enjoying her victory, which were quite rare considering her cousin had taught her all she'd known about battle and martial arts. When he stopped struggling, she grinned and gloated pleasantly, "Rule number three of the club, never take your eyes off of your prize, and in my case, that was kicking your ass. You are totally and utterly beaten Kenji."

"Yeah well at least you're smiling again instead of moping around." Kenji taunted, his voice muffled because of the mouthful of grass he'd been forced to eat. If he had seen Mion's expression he would have known that he crossed a line but Mion was prompt to inform him of his slip by shoving his head unceremoniously into the dirt. Spluttering when she lifted him by grabbing a handful of his black hair, he cursed, "Dammit, you're going to kill me! You won already, get off of me!"

"I don't think so. I was _not_ moping around." Mion replied icily, releasing her hold on his head but keeping his arms secure by pinning them with her legs. Even though her cousin was twice her size, she had used his weight against him more than once and she planned to keep him down so she could punish him for teasing her. "I was just thinking, so you better get your facts straight."

He was already on the ground and Mion had quite a range of control over him, but Kenji was as stubborn as she was and refused to submit to her pressure. He turned his head and grinned mockingly at her, trying to look at intimidating as possible with a face streaked with grass stains and dirt as he jeered, "Thinking about that Maebara guy that you told me about? Who would've thought that my favourite headstrong cousin was actually a woman under all that bravado!"

"Kenji, how much do you value what makes you a man?" The veiled threat was uttered in the voice of a true Sonozaki headmistress, and Mion's emerald eyes practically glowed with icy anger. For his credit, Kenji didn't look the least bit scared as he sneered back into her face. After a tense moment of traded glares, she looked away and her face pinked slightly. Releasing his arms from her knees, she got to her feet and brushed the dirt from her clothes, not offering to help him stand.

Kenji rolled onto his back, his dark shirt effectively coated with dirt, his grey shorts permanently stained with green marks. Folding his arms under his head, he looked straight up into the abashed face of his female relative and smiled gently when she finally met his eyes. Gesturing that she was to sit beside him, he sat up and apologized warmly, "Sorry, I know you really like him. I shouldn't tease you so much, it's just new for me to have something to rag on you for. _You_ never left me alone when I hooked up with Aiko in Tokyo."

"That's because I couldn't believe a woman could stand you." Mion replied grumpily, folding her arms around herself as she flopped onto the grass beside him. She found it rather difficult to remember why she loved her cousin so much right now, but when he slung his arm around her shoulders and fondly ruffled her hair, she could feel the affection returning. While she attempted to be undemonstrative, especially around the opposite sex, she liked this attention and elbowed Kenji tenderly in the stomach. "Fine, point taken... I'll shut up about Aiko-chan if you leave me alone about Kei-chan."

"Kei-chan, pretty girly nickname for a boy. You sure he's not in the closet?" Kenji asked casually, receiving a very hard punch to the gut for his trouble. Falling onto his back and cradling his bruised stomach, he groaned, "C'mon woman, it's a fair question! Who gives their straight friends a nickname like that?"

"Me and Shion are the only ones who call him Kei-chan." Mion told him sourly, almost regretting that she'd let him back up from the ground now that he was teasing her again. He just smiled innocently when he caught sight of her scowl, which only made her want to hit him again. She knew her older cousin didn't mean anything bad when he taunted her, but she still didn't like his teasing when it came to the boy she was so obviously taken with.

Kenji, realizing that he'd hurt her, sighed and nuzzled gently against her hair, silently apologizing for his blunder. She grumbled and half-heartedly pushed him away, but he was insistent and it was enough for her to finally admit defeat with another elbow to his ribcage. Knowing her roughness to be her way of showing affection, the dark-haired boy glanced up into the cloudless Hinamizawa sky and chuckled under his breath. Mion looked at him curiously, and he explained peacefully, "It feels nice being back here. I remember spending my summers here with you and the rest of the family when I was a kid. We were quite the brats."

"Well it didn't help that Shion couldn't go to any of the family meetings and you couldn't either. It gave you two plenty of time to refine your talents." Mion reminded him with a roll of her eyes, but her smile was broad and couldn't be hidden from him as she thought of the mischief her twin and cousin had created. Kenji was infamous for starting trouble whenever he could, and a belligerent Shion at the age of six had been quite eager to raise hell if she got the chance. The two together was an explosion waiting to happen.

"How is Shion anyway? You told me last time we talked that she'd transferred to your school." Kenji asked curiously, dark eyes bright with amusement at the thought of both twins together again. He knew the girls well enough to know that it had been simply a matter of time before Shion ditched the school and returned home. "She doing well there or still raising hell every time she gets the chance?"

"Well she got into a load of trouble for ditching the school..." Mion mused quietly, picking unconsciously at her fingernails, abruptly glad that her cousin knew little about their distinction. Like his father, he knew little about the conditions of being a Sonozaki and it would only anger him if he knew of their self-inflicted pain. Forcing a smile to her face, she added cheerfully, "But that's all in the past now anyway, she's going to my school now. She's kind of adopted Satoko on top of that and she spends her weekends at Rika's place to make sure they're doing alright."

"She adopted that Hojo kid?" Kenji asked with raised eyebrows, noticing that Mion's smile was gentle as she spoke of the blond child who had been so publicly abused by the entire village. Chuckling quietly, he shook his head and mumbled, "Wow, who knew she'd end up adopting the kid... Lots has changed since I was last here. I guess I should be pleased that someone's fighting the village finally."

"Newcomers normally do that without really thinking about it." Mion remarked softly, unable to hide the gentleness in her smile as she thought fondly of the boy who had truly brought a change to Hinamizawa. Shaking her head so Kenji wouldn't see the change in her expression, she shrugged lazily and added, "On top of the fact that I think everybody in the village thinks he's a cross-dresser now."

"Damn, you're harsh to a man's pride." Kenji chortled, quite amused by Mion's sadistic nature when it came to the punishment games. He was quite used to it himself, but he could only imagine the horror the poor teen had been put through in his first few weeks of club activities. Taking a glance around the garden of the estate, his grin suddenly widened as he spotted a green-haired teenager who had just arrived. Cupping a hand around his mouth, he called loudly, "There's the number two demon! Shion!"

"Oh shut up you monster!" Shion called back playfully, laughing as she cleared the distance between the gate and her cousin, only to be engulfed in a viscous bear hug that left her breathless. Mion laughed at the sight, and embarrassed, Shion pushed away his arms and griped, "Jeez man, you're getting bigger every time I see you! You're as big as a bear! It's been so long Kenji!"

Kenji chortled and wrapped his arm protectively around her waist, noticing that Shion's face was alight with mischief. She turned to her sister who was regarding them with amusement, and she informed her with a chirp, "Mother wants you at the front gate for a second, she says it's urgent."

"Ah shit, it's probably about Uncle again." Mion slapped a hand to her forehead then bowed apologetically to Kenji before tapping her twin in the head with her index finger. Dodging a good-natured smack from her sister and laughing as she did so, the older girl ran off towards the estate to help her mother with the new problems that had come up.

Once she was out of earshot, Kenji released Shion and stooped slightly, gripping her by the shoulders so he could get a good look into her eyes. She was grinning from ear to ear at him, not even bothering to hide her excitement as he examined her. Rolling his eyes, he tried to find an excuse to keep silent but her enthusiasm was contagious, and he _was_ a born trouble maker. If she had something going on, it was only natural for him to want to be right in the middle of it. Admitting defeat in the face of his perfect match, he asked in a falsely tired voice, "Alright Shion-chan, tell me exactly what plot you've got going this time and how can I help you?"

"Good boy, you didn't even need me to open my mouth." Shion giggled, clapping her hands with approval before she yanked him down by the collar so she could better whisper into his ear. She was worried about Mion returning once she realized that their mother hadn't called for her, and explained urgently, "So you know all about Kei-chan, right? Well I decided it was about time for him and Sis to stop dancing around each other, so I lied and said that the reason why Mion was missing so much school and acting so weird was because she had a boyfriend."

The older boy couldn't help it, he hooted with laughter and was silenced promptly when Shion hit him in the solar-plexus with one well-aimed punch. Her arm was as strong as her sister's and it winded him because she didn't hold back. Coughing and spluttering, he rubbed at the injury and grunted, "Point taken, shutting up. Keep explaining."

"Well, I guess what I want to ask is; will you do a favour for your favourite cousin?" Shion didn't bother to sugarcoat what she wanted, especially when it came to possibly assuring her sister's happiness. Kenji stared at her with one raised eyebrow, not understanding, and she let out a grunt of annoyance before grumbling fiercely, "I want you to play her boyfriend for the next few days, when you're in public. Take her out on the town, flaunt her like arm-candy! I'll arrange for Kei-chan to catch you two and make him jealous. If he talks to you about her, just brush him off, y'know, make him see what a good catch Sis is and all. You can do that, can't you?"

Kenji paused, pursing his lips as he thought over her request seriously. While it would be rather easy to make his already affectionate relationship with Mion to look like something more, he wasn't entirely sure that he could escape the situation unscathed. He knew little about the boy that his cousin was so taken with, and also had no idea if he'd resort to violence if he felt that Mion was being maltreated. "A few concerns here... This Keiichi guy, he's not violent, right? I mean if I play on the uncaring ass of a boyfriend, he's not exactly going to come after me with a gun?"

"Kei-chan might be a lot of things but he's a pansy. Don't worry about him trying to kill you." Shion waved off the idea with a strange grin, and she knew that Kenji wasn't buying her excuse. She wouldn't lie and say that she'd seen Keiichi when he grew seriously angry, but she had a feeling that if pushed far enough, his chivalrous instincts would kick in and he would come violently to her sister's defence. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you could knock him on his ass if he came at you anyway, you're huskier than him by a long-shot. Next?"

"Not the point... But fine, next. I'm assuming that she has no idea what you're plotting and you want me to keep it way secret?" Kenji already knew the answer but he wanted her to confirm it and a single sharp nod quelled that worry. He made a show of stretching his arms before he asked his next question, and he drawled it out, "Third, please keep your trap shut about this to Aiko, if she found this out I'd be castrated. I'll do it, as long as you just don't tell Aiko."

"Deal, I'll keep my mouth shut if you do this for Mion." Shion agreed immediately, unable to keep the smile from spreading across her lips. The puzzle pieces were falling exactly where she wanted them to land, and it was now only a matter of time before the plan began to roll and would become unstoppable.

"Yeah right, I'm doing this for _Mion_ and not for your sadistic pleasure Shion-chan." Kenji replied with a roll of his eyes, knowing full well how much Shion was going to enjoy torturing her sister and the boy, to some extent. He knew that despite loving her sister, she'd jump on any opportunity to mess with Mion if she could get away with it.

"How many times have I told you not to call me 'chan'? I hate it when you do that. You're only two years older than me." Shion griped, crossing her arms and frowning when he flashed her a giant 'I-know-you-do-but-I-don't-care' smile that he had mastered over the years. She wanted to punch him but she knew Mion would be showing up at any minute so she decided she could always punish him later.

"I reserve the right to call you whatever I want until this charade is over and I've escaped with all my teeth intact, thank you very much."

"Point taken and permission granted."

* * *

Keiichi was still rather in shock the next day, having not entirely digested everything that Shion had told him the day before. He'd walked to school in a complete daze, with Mion being blissfully absent once again, though Rena had surprised him at his door quite early that morning. He'd somehow managed to keep a half-decent conversation going with the auburn-haired girl, but he knew that she could tell that he was off but he didn't have the strength to bring up what Shion had told him.

'Besides...' He reminded himself numbly, 'I promised to keep my mouth shut anyway...' His night had been erratically fitful with the cicadas crying out through his window to keep him up until quite late. Shion's words, all the information she had on the boy who was dating Mion, kept circling through his head until he'd gotten up and ran into the washroom to douse himself in a very cold shower. It hadn't really worked and only kept him up even later, but he didn't regret agreeing to do a favour for Shion to learn everything he could about this strange 'Kenji' figure.

"Shut up! He actually said that to Miss Chie?" Mion's voice cut through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter, and automatically his eyes trained on the emerald-haired girl who was chatting lively with Rena by her desk. Her lithe body shook with barely contained laughter, and she had pressed her hand tightly to her mouth to keep the noise down as Rena began to giggle. "Oh god, what happened?! Did she kill him? Please tell me she killed him!"

"I don't think she killed him but she was very mad, yes she was! I couldn't believe he'd said that too but I don't think manager knew what he was getting into when he started talking." Rena replied in a hushed voice, though she was clearly having trouble controlling her laughter. She reached out to touch Mion's shoulder, leaning close as she continued, "She went right up to him and hit manager over the head with a textbook!"

Keiichi listened silently to Mion's laughter and was surprised by the warmth the sound fuelled in him, and how suddenly the world righted itself. She was giggling crazily, leaning onto her desk and supporting herself with her hands while Rena tried to stop herself from laughing too hard too. He wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to smile along with her giggles, it just seemed so natural to watch and grin along with her pleasure, as if it was his own.

Mion brushed her hand over her eyes, shivering and trying to catch her breath as she brushed away the tears of mirth that had gathered from her laughter. She froze abruptly when she noticed that two seats away from where she was standing, a pair of very familiar violet eyes were watching her with unmistakable affection in them.

'K-Kei-chan?'

Her face reddened sharply, almost on cue, and she tried to take a step backwards and only ended up bumping into the nearest thing behind her, which happened to be the just-arriving Hanyuu. Turning on a dime she grabbed the girl by the front of her shirt and hastily straightened her, blinking fiercely as though to banish the look of those warm eyes she'd caught staring at her. 'Hot... It's so hot all of a sudden.'

"Mion?" Hanyuu's voice was soft, uncertain, and Mion realized she had yet to let the front of the girl's uniform go. When her hand abruptly loosened, Rika's relative gently touched her wrist and tilted her head, concern colouring her dark eyes. "You don't look very well, do you need to go outside for some fresh air?"

Mion nearly laughed aloud, but this time not with pleasure, with hysteria. Her face felt like it'd been set on fire, and her stomach was flipping so hard she felt very ill. She didn't realize she was taking excessively deep breaths until her chest began to ache, and all because she had caught Keiichi staring at her. Hanyuu was holding her arm now, keeping her upright as best she could, and the teenager murmured to herself, "Some fresh air might be good. I'm really hot, are you?"

"Mi-chan, come on outside with me." Rena, having seen the entire thing, was quick to rescue her best friend from the emotional upheaval that had sent her into shock. Winking at a very frightened-looking Hanyuu to reassure her, she led Mion outside and into the playground, smiling when she watched Mion's red face slowly fade back to normal now that she was out of the classroom. Leaning back on the wall, Rena waited patiently for her to stop hyperventilating, then tilted her head and grinned brightly when Mion looked her way. "Are you feeling better Mi-chan? I was worried you would fall over on me, I was!"

Mion tried to chuckle but the gesture was too forced and she knew it would only make her look rather pathetic if she tried lying to her friend. Rubbing at her face a bit, she glanced through her fingers at the knowing smile of her blue-eyed friend then let out a very weak groan. "Kei-chan was _staring_ at me... I don't know why but I suddenly got all flustered, I couldn't breathe... I just... I lost it."

"Silly Mi-chan." Rena softly murmured, shaking her head and tousling Mion's hair like a mother would a child. Mion stared through her fingers and noticed that Rena's smile had turned extremely gentle and almost playful. "You're so silly Mi-chan, you really are. It's okay though, I understand why you're so frazzled. Do you want to talk about it or would you like me to go back inside and stall for you?"

"N-No... Um... Would you stay... with me?" Mion grimaced at how strange the words tasted on her tongue when she spoke them, but she was suddenly quite terrified of being left alone outside. Rena just stood there, seeming to understand her worry and gave her older friend her silent company until she could speak. Playing with her collar absently after a few moments of this silence, Mion kicked at the ground nervously and murmured a quiet, "Uh... Rena, I'm... I'm sorry... I should be a bit more tougher."

"Mi-chan, don't talk like that. You're the strongest person I know." Rena brushed off the apology with a wave of her hand, but her eyes had transformed into chips of ice as she stared down her friend. Her voice was rather firm as she scolded her classmate, each word spoken slowly and quietly, "You didn't hesitate to put yourself in front of Takano for us, you didn't think twice about believing in Rika when she came to you and Satoko about what was going on, and you protected all of us well beyond your 'duty' as a club leader. Trust me Mi-chan, if you got any tougher I'd start thinking you weren't human. You're girly, that's a good thing, a good thing."

"Me? Girly? What are you blind?" Mion looked down at herself in alarm, examining every inch of herself that she could see. The plain pink skirt that hung to her knees and the white t-shirt with the red tie that really didn't match well with the yellow vest she wore overtop. She couldn't see where Rena was coming from, and her confusion registered plainly on her face. "Rena, I basically should have been born a guy."

"So why did you take that doll that Keiichi-kun gave you?" Rena questioned sharply, catching Mion completely off guard with her abrupt change of tone. Her eyes flashed with annoyance and she turned entirely to face Mion, hands gently holding her friend by the wrists. She continued in a much more controlled voice then when she realized she'd scared her, "As much as you try to deny it, you are a girl Mi-chan. If it scares you, being feminine I mean, then no one is telling you that you have to be. I'm sure that Keiichi-kun loves you just the way you are, and he knows exactly _who_ you are. Being 'girly' has nothing to do with it."

"H-He doesn't _love_ me!" Mion burst out quite more loudly than she intended, and her face returned to the bright crimson hue it had been before. Jerking her hands from Rena's grip, she tried to cover her face as her breathing shortened again and left her dizzy. She was really beginning to dislike these strange feelings, even though she understood them all too well. "Gah!"

Rena shook her head in a strangely resigned fashion, but she didn't leave Mion's side. Instead she leaned patiently on the wall, waiting for Mion to get control of herself again. To her surprise, it didn't take nearly as long this time, she was under control in a few seconds though her blush had failed to disappear entirely. Folding her hands together demurely, Rena raised her eyes to the sky and spoke gently, "Mi-chan is in love, I know this, and I know that you know it too even if you don't want to admit it. Mi-chan has nothing to be embarrassed about though, because it's a good thing. You should tell him."

"Tell him that I... I..." Mion cut herself off quickly, and shook her head as fiercely as she could without giving herself whiplash. It felt so strange to say the words she'd always thought aloud, even if only Rena was around to hear her. She started playing with her collar again, tugging on the white fabric nervously, unable to look up from the ground. "I don't... I can't tell him that. I'm too scared."

"It just proves that it's true." Rena replied cheekily, earning a confused look from her friend. Giggling softly, she straightened Mion's collar for her and explained in a warm tone, "You're scared of rejection and that proves how much you care. You think 'What will I do if he doesn't tell me he loves me too?', and 'How could I tell him without looking stupid?'. Things like that just prove that you care so much that it hurts. It's a good thing to hurt, and to feel pleasure, especially when you're in love. I understand being scared too, so I promise to stay beside you and help as much as I can, I do. If you ever need me Mi-chan, Rena will never be far from you. I'm your friend, but more importantly, I love you Mi-chan. You mean the world to me, all of my friends do, so I'll be sure to take care of you when you need it, because I know you'd do the same. Okay?"

"Rena–" Mion began quietly, deeply touched by the sincerity in her friend's voice, and the maternal gleam in her eyes as she held out her hands to offer her support. She stopped abruptly however when she saw another concerned face looking at her from the doorway, and her breath caught in her throat. All of her courage that Rena had managed to muster together disappeared and she could feel her knees actually knock. 'He's got the worst _ever_ timing!'

"Keiichi-kun, thank goodness you're here!" Rena burst out, turning to the startled boy as if she'd known that he'd followed the two girls outside. Mion just stood there, dumbfounded as Rena rushed up to him, stood on tiptoe and whispered something urgently into his ear. When she pulled away Keiichi only looked more anxious than he had before, and Rena continued hurriedly, "I'll tell Miss Chie that you took her to the clinic!" Without another word to either teen, she took off and Mion was very sure she heard her cackling as she ran back into the school.

"I'm going to guess that everything Rena just said was a lie and that she wanted us to be alone." Keiichi remarked dryly when Mion refused to look at him or speak after a strained few minutes of silence. Smiling ruefully, he ran a hand through his hair and took Rena's position of leaning on the wall, watching Mion carefully to make sure she hadn't fallen ill. Her face was still a bright cherry colour and she was toying with her hair, her hands and her shirt but she didn't look as though she was about to collapse from a fever and that calmed him. "You okay?"

"I've... been better." Mion allowed, wincing when Keiichi tilted his head and frowned at her obvious lie. She cursed her luck and found herself wishing that she could lie to him as easily as she used to, but those days had long since passed. She wasn't sure when it had become difficult for her to be near him when she was alone, but it had definitely worsened after their victory over Takano and her near end from the woman's gun.

Keiichi pocketed his hands and looked away, face flushing unconsciously when his mind went over the words he had heard Mion and Rena exchanging. It hadn't surprised him to hear Rena scolding Mion, but it had shocked him to hear Mion's soft and hesitant protests. She'd never sounded so unsure in all the time he had known her, and though he knew that Rena was doing it for Mion's sake, it didn't stop him from wanting to step in between them and ward her off. 'She got all uncomfortable and I just wanted to take her away... I mean, I've always been protective of the girls but this is different...'

As much as he wanted to stay to make sure that she'd be alright, he found himself wondering if she'd do better with him gone. Her words rung coldly in his head, confirming what Shion had told him and it all but killed any and all hopes that had surfaced from yesterday's talk. She was in love with her boyfriend and was trying to get over her embarrassment to tell him. 'Damn... Shion was totally right on the money, I can't believe it...'

He winced as he remembered the promise he had made to Shion, to not interfere in any way, shape or form with Mion's love life, even if it killed him. She hadn't given him an option, warning him fiercely that if she found out he did anything to screw up her sister's relationship, she'd make him wish he'd never moved to Hinamizawa. He'd made that promise after a moment of hesitation, and he knew then that he'd sealed fate. He wouldn't go back on his word to Shion, but at the same time he was having great difficulty controlling his emotions around a visibly disturbed Mion.

"Uh... Kei-chan, would you... Um... I kind of... C-Can we..." Mion cursed herself violently for stammering over her words, when he was standing right in front of her, and she realized with a jolt that she wasn't looking at him. Forcing her eyes up from the dirt, she found her courage and blurted out, "I really want to talk to you about something important! So, um, I... Would you mind coming with me to Okinomiya later so we could, er, talk in private? Just you and me?"

"Oh... Uh, sure, I know this awesome ramen place not too far from Angel Mort if you want to make a date of it." Keiichi realized what he'd said too late, and he hit himself viciously in the forehead with a closed palm. Mion's mouth had popped open at the word 'date', and her face registered nothing but shock and numbness. Rushing to fix his words and hating himself for every mistake he was making, the boy continued sheepishly, "I-I-I didn't meant a _date_ date, just you and me going to eat, that's all! W-We don't even need to get food if you want, I mean it's totally stupid to even say that, we can just–"

"Shut up, will you?" Mion giggled softly, quite amused by his embarrassment even though it was fuelling her own. His face was as red as her tie and she noticed that it was him this time that refused to look her in the face. Sidling just a little closer, she elbowed him in the stomach and added softly, "It sounds nice. I've got some stuff to do tonight, so we can go tomorrow?"

"Y-Yeah... I'll uh, pick you up around five or something then?"

"That's great, I'll be waiting for you." Mion smiled again, and Keiichi was struck by how gentle the expression seemed on her face, not at all tomboyish or smug like he was used to. She brushed by him, and his arm stung when her skin whispered against his own, even through his sleeve. She disappeared back into the classroom, leaving him alone outside the school, holding the place where she'd touched him with a completely mystified look painted onto his face.

Keiichi groaned softly and raised a hand to cover his face, clearly hearing Shion's threatening promise ringing like a roar in his ears. She'd made it very painfully clear that she'd put up with no meddling on his part, and he could just imagine what she'd do to him once she realized that he was going out on a date with her taken sister. He could find the excuses that he'd try to explain to her, but he knew she'd never listen to a word he'd say.

'Shion is so going to _kill_ me...'

**AN**

**(giggles in a very fangirl-like manner) I wrote fluff to get away from the depression that Criminal Minds left me with. God I dislike that show so much right now. It just didn't seem right to me, but meh, I shouldn't ramble about that here. Ahem, so anyway... Lol, yes I had no choice but to introduce an OC here because I need a random cousin and so we have the birth of Kenji. I honestly only put a mention of a girlfriend in Tokyo because I was tempted to do another pairing if I didn't so it was a counter-measure XD I'm so horrible that way, it's really bad of me. **

**Hmm. Ah yesh, inspiration of this chapter is wholly due to the madness of Elephant Ears, epic music, and a random insane bout of writer's itch. Press the green button below please! 8D**

**Sky**


	3. Late Arrival

"I'm not going!"

"Kei-chan is going to be here in an hour, you've got to get out of the bathroom!" Shion yelled back, tapping her foot loudly, trying to mask her annoyance, exasperation and amusement as she did so. Rena was trying to stifle her own giggles but failing miserably, she had delegated herself to the far corner of Shion's old room, allowing Shion to try and coax the frightened girl from the locked washroom that she'd hidden in. Folding her arms tightly over her stomach, Shion rapped angrily on the door and announced fiercely, "Get your _ass_ out of there right now, Mion Sonozaki! You are not going to stand up your first date just because you got cold feet!"

"Piss off, Shion!" Mion shouted in reply, her voice muffled by the door and her hands that were covering her face and mouth. For a near half an hour she had been hiding and time was continuing to trickle away, reminding her that Keiichi was to pick her up in only one hour from now. She knew it was cowardly, but she couldn't help it, she was terrified. "I told you, I'm not going and that means I'm not going!"

Shion growled warningly and drew back her fist as though she had half a mind to attempt to break down the locked door. A warm hand settled on her shoulder, and she turned to see Rena smiling slightly at her, shaking her head with gentle reproach. Taking in a deep breath, Shion reminded herself that she had to be patient if she wanted things to work out, especially considering that she had already sent Kenji to Okinomiya in anticipation of ruining the date she was trying to send her sister on.

The thought was a relatively wicked one that made Shion give way to Rena, and she was abruptly overwhelmed with a surge of guilt that left her hallow. 'Ughn... I'm trying to get my sister to go on a date that I arranged to be screwed by my cousin. I'm really a twisted girl...' She slapped her cheeks hard, a firm reminder that she wasn't really taking any pleasure from this, and fixed the glare back onto her face while Rena took over. 'This is for her own good, it's for her own good... You're not doing anything totally immoral Shion!'

"Mi-chan, remember what we talked about yesterday? You were the one who asked for Kei-chan to come with you, you can't just leave him like that, you can't." Rena scolded her friend gently, settling herself into a sitting position next to the door, leaning her head against the wood. She continued in a soft tone, forcing Mion to strain to hear her, "He'd be so disappointed if he found out that you ran away."

"Or he'll laugh his ass off." Shion put in rather unhelpfully, but Rena giggled while Mion threw a very dirty curse word at her for teasing. Smiling a little, Shion knelt next to Rena and placed her hand on the door, adding just as softly as Rena had, "In all honesty though, Sis, you have got to get out of the washroom. You can't hide from first dates."

"Go away..."

"C'mon Sis, you have to come out. It won't be so bad. You don't even need to tell him whatever it was that you wanted to, I'm sure he'd understand. Hell, if you want you can leave to Okinomiya early and we'll send him after you." Shion was looking at Rena while she spoke, and was glad to see the agreeing nods that the girl was giving. Though she would have preferred to see Keiichi come to pick her sister up, it did give her the chance to privately grill him if Mion was already gone. Giving the door a soft knock, she wheedled, "You know you want to unlock that door, Sis. Open up."

"I really hate you right now, Shion. I mean really." Mion murmured, but her voice lacked the venom that the words required and the two knew they had won when the lock clicked back into place and the door opened. Mion looked much smaller than either girl had ever seen her, and she stared down at the ground nervously. She refused outright to meet the triumphant stares of her twin sister and best friend, it would only piss her off in the long run and she was humiliated enough already.

"C'mon you, let's get you into something nice for Kei-chan." Shion tugged gently on Mion's arm after jumping to her feet, and Rena was quick to take a firm hold of the other so she couldn't escape. Mion allowed herself to be marched to her sister's closet without a word of protest, it would only make things worse for her if she tried. Rena sat by her on the edge of Shion's bed while Shion herself all but ran to her closet and started rifling through her clothes with renewed vigour.

Mion let out a very soft breath of defeat, and slumped in on herself as she watched Shion pick a short dark skirt from the closet only to put it back with a shake of her head. She truly didn't understand her younger sister but she couldn't find it in herself to be annoyed with her, especially after all the help she was getting when she'd raised such a hell over it. Yet she couldn't regret her lapse in self-confidence either, she was honestly terrified of meeting Keiichi alone. 'Strange that facing down a gun doesn't scare me in the least but a first date leaves me cowering in the bathroom... I'm insane.'

Rena was patting her head in a comforting gesture, something which she was immensely grateful for. Her friend seemed to know exactly what to do without words needing to be spoken, and she simply did what she could to ease Mion's anxiety. Watching Shion, Rena stretched out her legs and called over conversationally to Shion, "Shi-chan, Kenji-san said you were going somewhere today after Keiichi-kun picks up Mi-chan. Where are you heading off to I wonder?"

"I'm just going to the clinic again, Manager wants some help around back." Shion replied flippantly, not even looking from her hunting. She rifled through her collection of clothing, pulling out several articles at a time before tossing them all back unceremoniously and starting anew. Idly yanking at a pair of dark pants that had caught her eye, she mused aloud, "Hmm, I don't think putting you in a skirt would be a good thing, you don't want him staring at your legs for the entire time... Pants would probably be better considering it's Kei-chan, so these will do I think..." Taking the pair out, she tossed them behind her and started her search for a proper looking top. "These'll do..."

"Did I give you permission to dress me up like a doll?" Mion grumbled half-heartedly, snatching the pants from Rena to examine them with a critical eye. While she and Shion had constantly swapped clothes in the past and there was no doubt that what looked good on one would look just as good on the other, she still didn't have faith in her twin's tastes. Unfolding the black fabric, her eyes widened slightly as the jeans fell to the floor, the silver belt around the waist winking back at her in the faint bedroom light. "Oh. These are... nice."

"Well of course they are, they're my favourite pair of jeans." Shion replied dismissively, listening to Rena giggling at Mion's rare attraction to clothing. Her sister clung almost proudly to her tomboyish facade while a true girl lingered inside, but she'd never admit that she had a liking for fashion. "Aha, here we go, black and white, that'll do just fine!" Triumphantly she turned from her closet, brandishing a tanktop with a V neckline and she handed it quite smugly to her surprised sister. "Go on and change, Rena and I will wait here."

"Why can't you two leave and let me change in here?" Mion shot back, holding the clothing to her chest in a defensive gesture. She glared from Rena's grinning face to Shion's smug one, and while she loved both females dearly, part of her mind was plotting their murders. She couldn't even remember why she'd begged for their aid the day before, and she was seriously regretting that decision now.

"Because Mi-chan will lock herself in the room again and bar the door with a chair if we leave." Rena answered without skipping a beat, and Shion all but fell off the bed, hooting with laughter at her friend's innocent smile. Ignoring Shion resolutely even though laughter was obvious in her beautiful cerulean eyes, she gestured to the bathroom and added sweetly, "Go on, Mi-chan."

"Why did I ask for your help in the first place?" Mion grunted unhappily, but she turned around and stomped into the washroom without more argument anyway. She could fight Shion and possibly manage a victory, she had never challenged Rena head-on and wasn't entirely sure who would win that battle, but she knew better than to fight the two at the same time. The bathroom door slammed behind her.

"If this date doesn't work out, I think we'll need to go into hiding." Shion whispered conspiratorially to Rena, who gave her shoulder a little push, muffling her giggles with her free hand. Smiling quite smugly, Shion drew up her legs and shuffled back to the wall as she sat happily on her bed and let out a pleasant sigh, her eyes sliding shut. 'Ah... It feels so good, playing with Sis' head, hanging out with girlfriends my age... It's new, but it's fun...'

"Shi-chan, there's something I want to tell you while Mi-chan isn't listening." Rena's voice had dropped into a whisper, and Shion opened one eye to look over at the auburn haired girl curiously. Her face was somewhat stern but her lips quirked at one corner, threatening a smile that she was fighting. "I know what you're up to, I know."

"Eh?" Shion blinked several times, and immediately her stomach dropped to somewhere around her knees. True fear washed through her blood, and her head started spinning nervously as she tried to think of what exactly Rena had figured out. From her knowledge, only Rika, Hanyuu and Mion knew about Satoshi, though she wasn't sure how the other two had found it out. Mion had promised to keep her silence the moment the subject had been brought up, and though the two Furudes had made no such promise, Shion had trusted their discretion when Satoko was involved. Rena and Keiichi were entirely oblivious, or so she had hoped, and she swallowed noisily. 'Oh god, does she know? Manager promised that he'd make it look like I was just helping him out...' Even with years of practise, she still couldn't stop her voice from breaking off into a terrified squeak when she asked, "Wh-What do you know, Rena?"

"I know about your scheme with Kenji-san." Rena answered primly, and she noticed that Shion let out a soft breath of relief before controlling herself and resuming her terrified facade. Deciding not to push on whatever else the older girl was hiding, she glanced at the door to make sure that Mion was still busy and explained softly, "It was pretty easy to figure out, Keiichi-kun was acting strange around Mi-chan and she seemed even more embarrassed than usual..."

"You're good, Rena. Ever considered becoming a detective?" Shion asked weakly, her throat constricting from both relief and worry. Part of her was elated that Rena hadn't guessed what she was doing under all the covers, the other was terrified that she'd been found out about her sister. 'Oi vey...'Sneaking a nervous peek at the auburn-haired teenager, she asked somewhat sheepishly, "Are you going to tell me to knock it off?"

"No, I'm not, but I wanted you to know that I knew." Rena answered with a strange smile, tilting her head playfully and folding her legs. Shion regarded her with suspicious curiosity and the teenager couldn't hold in her mirth to being regarded such. Shaking her head, she tried to explain through soft giggles, "It's okay Shi-chan, I'm actually all for it if you could believe that. I think it's time that our friends finally told each other how they feel. I'll help in any way possible too, it'd be fun, it would!"

"Glad to know you're on my side Rena, you'll be useful!" Shion exulted cheerfully, throwing her arms ecstatically around the girl. Rena giggled crazily and returned the hug, bringing a huge grin to the girl's face. She almost couldn't believe that she'd won over a new ally. 'And my secret is still safe...'

"You sure you don't want to take Rena as your twin sister? I'm sure she'd be more fun than me." Mion's voice commented dryly from the bathroom, and the two girls pulled apart rather awkwardly. Shion immediately burst into applause when her sister stepped out completely from the bathroom, and judging from the abashed look on her twin's face, she was pleased with the reaction. Still, she mumbled, rubbing at her nose, "Stop it already, I get it..."

Rena smiled playfully but allowed Shion to go through the rituals of teasing her sister until Mion had grabbed the nearest pillow and proceeded to hit her over the head with it. She had to admit that the clothing Shion had picked out for her twin fit Mion rather snugly, the jeans weren't too tight and the shirt gave just enough of a hint to her cleavage all the while keeping the sight pristine. She watched the twins become embroiled in a rather fierce pillow fight, and couldn't help but feel the slightest twinge of envy. 'It must be nice to have siblings... Watching them makes me wish I wasn't an only child.' Her musing was cut off abruptly however when Mion started yelling at her, over Shion's battle cry.

"Rena, as your club leader, I command you to help me nail this woman to the wall!" Mion roared through the mist of feathers that had exploded out of her weapon, leaving her defenceless as Shion started to strike back at her. Rolling onto her back and raising her arms defensively over her face, she tried to make herself into the smallest target possible, waiting for Rena to come to her rescue. "NOW!"

"No fair, damn Sis! You can't call for reinforcements!" Shion protested, still whaling on her sister with all the strength she had, pouncing on top of the girl to keep her on the floor. She glanced worriedly over her shoulder, wondering if Rena would dasre to intervene but when she saw the sparkling glee in the other's face, she knew she was done for.

"Sorry Shi-chan but my leader demands it!" Rena giggled happily, grabbing the nearest pillow and jumping headlong into the fray. For Shion's credit, she fought rather well against her two opponents, moving like a snake to evade one blow while lashing out with another. However she was outnumbered and while she and Mion could normally end up cancelling each other out, Rena was a whole different story. She wasn't entirely sure what Mion was feeling to allow her to join this intimate sisterly fun, but she wasn't going to argue and give up her chance to feel like she belonged. 'Yes,' She thought with a small smile as Mion clapped her hand onto her back, a proud gesture as they stood victorious over their fallen foe, 'this is definitely where I belong.'

* * *

Keiichi shoved his hands rather uncomfortably into his pockets, staring at the street below him as he trudged along wordlessly by himself. Rena and Shion had told him, in a strangely female way, that Mion had already left to Okinomiya without him because she had an emergency to deal with at her job. He knew they were lying, he hadn't missed the look the two girls shared, but he didn't argue with them. He knew better than anyone that Mion chose the oddest times to turn shy.

He had to admit though that he wasn't too pleased with her leaving him to deal with Shion, who had all but dragged him off to warn him that if he did anything out of bounds that she'd gleefully castrate him. He wasn't too sure, but he had thought he'd heard Rena cackling in the background when Shion let him off the leash to go to her sister. That alone worried him, it was already bad enough to be dealing with the Sonozaki twins, but throwing in Rena Ryuugu simply meant that he was destined for failure.

'I wonder if she's waiting for me...'

The thought left him with a strangely giddy feeling growing in his stomach, and it brought a goofy-looking smile to his face too. He'd never admit it, but he'd taken pains to look somewhat presentable for the date, wearing a clean pair of light brown-coloured pants and his favourite shirt with his red vest overtop. He'd played with hair in a fussing manner before, finally embarrassed, he'd decided to leave it as it was and headed off for the Sonozaki manor. Shion's eyes had spoke approval, but she wasn't the one he wanted to impress–

Keiichi all but stopped dead as the thought raced across his mind, leaving him in a stunned silence. 'What is _wrong_ with me? When did I start caring how Mion saw me?' Almost immediately his question was answered, and to his annoyance it was in the tauntingly familiar voice of the younger twin he was on his way to see.

"_You can't tell? Mion has a _boyfriend_."_

Keiichi was startled by how childish he was feeling all of a sudden, and then he was shamed. He knew exactly why he had started caring, and it was the most juvenile thing he had ever thought of. 'I never thought that someone would take the girls away from me, it's like they'd be mine forever, that we'd always be together... The idea of Mion be taken away... I want her because I might lose her. Damn, what sort of idiot am I to think like that?'

Shion had known that his reaction would be like this, and that infuriated him. She'd played him quite nicely and was probably laughing her ass off as she watched him make a fool of himself. Yet, he couldn't stop himself from wanting what was gone from his reach, so he kept on floundering about. 'No doubt Shion is ecstatic. Damn Sonozaki...'

'She's in love with this Kenji guy... How far did I fall? How quickly? The festival was only last month, and Shion told me just a day or two before that Mion...' Keiichi slapped himself hard in the forehead, trying his best to get their voices out of his ears so he could think straight. Hatred choked him, a self-loathing he hadn't felt for quite some time. Unintentional as it may have been, he'd hurt his best friend with his ignorance and now he was paying for it. Her agony was now his own, but he couldn't find it in himself to be angry with her.

'She moved on. How can I blame her for not wanting to wait? If Shion hadn't told me anything, I would've just kept on being a dumbass... Ughn, I have got to be the most stupid person alive...' Closing his eyes, he allowed himself a moment to take several deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm him frustrations. 'But I still hate this... What do I tell her, that I'm happy for her? Would she even believe me?' He groaned. "Dammit... I think I need to get hit by a bus in order to learn even the most simplest things..."

He could almost feel Rika slapping him viciously in the back of the head for saying something so stupid, especially considering what they had walked through in the last month alone. She had always been particularly sensitive over jokes that involved death, but since she had come so close again to nearly losing them all forever, the mere mention of the word would set her off. Rubbing at the back of his neck, Keiichi realized that he had stopped in the middle of the street, put off due to his inner monologue.

Stopping, the boy had to take a second to look around to recognize his surroundings. He recognized the game shop where he had, many times, helped Mion out with her job when others called in sick and she picked up the slack without a complaint. She'd warned him off the first few times, embarrassedly telling him that she needed no assistance, but five days into picking up late shifts for her uncle, she all but tackled him in her glee to see him walk through the front door. Using that as a landmark, Keiichi slapped his hand to his forehead, exasperated. He'd gone by the ramen shop by at least two blocks in the opposite direction.

Then he glanced at his watch, hoping to see that he wasn't going to be late because of his error, and his face went white. First he tapped the face of his watch, praying to the Gods and everything else that he knew, that it was broken, and another minute ticked by, mocking him. His stomach hit the pavement and the world spun crazily as terror surged through him like a train wreck that he just couldn't tear his eyes from.

He was forty minutes late, two blocks away from where he was supposed to meet his date, and he still was as flustered as he'd been when Shion told him all of the truth. Keiichi summed up his situation neatly with two words as he whirled around and broke out into a desperate sprint towards the shop where Mion was, hopefully, still waiting for him.

"OH SHIT!"

His feet slapped loudly against the pavement and he dodged in and out of the other pedestrians, apologizing loudly over his shoulder whenever he accidentally jostled one of them. He was well aware of their annoyance but he didn't have the time to be sincere in his apologies, he now had a certain one that he had to make at all costs. 'Shit, shit, shit, I cannot believe this! She's gonna kill me! _Shion_ is going to kill me! Even Rena will kill me! God fricken dammit!'

Keiichi could just imagine the pain he would be in for, he had suffered many times for even being a minute late for club activities. This was something more serious and he was way more than a few moments behind, any punishment he had received before would be child's play compared to what would be awaiting him. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit–"

He tore around the corner, remembering the alleyway that split off behind the grocery store that led towards the ramen shop where his 'date' was supposed to be waiting for him. He took an instant to look across the street before bolting to the adjacent sidewalk, and he knew he'd been blessed when someone yelled and a car's tires squealed somewhere behind him. He yelled out over his shoulder, arms pumping and legs working like never before, "Sorry! I'm really late!"

"Stupid kid!"

'If only they knew.' Keiichi grimaced, numbly aware of a painful burning coming from somewhere inside of his chest. It was getting hard to breathe, he'd never run so fast and so hard in his life but he was barely paying attention to the aches as he rounded the nearest corner towards the back street that would take him to the shop. Angry voices erupted from behind the wall, cutting him short in surprise. He'd nearly ran headlong into an argument.

"Ya bitch! We's gunna teach ya to mess wit' us!"

Keiichi froze in mid-stride, nearly falling over himself in the process. The yell was a furious one and several voices joined in immediately, picking up the refrain. He recognized those voices, much to his chagrin, and his blood nearly ran cold as he heard the bikers taunting their latest victim. He was well familiar with this side of the street and knew that the gang had effectively cornered whoever they were threatening, and if he had counted the voices right, there were four thugs this time. Keiichi suddenly reminded himself that he'd been lucky only facing off with three bikers from his last encounter, he wondered if one of them was perhaps the ringleader. 'They sound pissed. Someone must have scratched their bikes again... I'd say it serves the thugs right but damn, who have they got cornered?'

He paused at the wall, gritting his teeth and pressing his hand against the stone as the voices rose and screeched together, threats, curses and jeers mixing into one horrible hymn. Part of him was torn to give aid to whoever was facing off with the quartet, the other was yanking at him fiercely to avoid the scene so he could get to his date. He was already late enough and he had no idea if he could scare off four grown thugs off by himself. 'They said "bitch" too, is it a girl they're harrassing? Shit...' Chewing on his lower lip, his mind spun unhappily, tugging him in two different directions. Help or flee.

Before he could make his decision however, another voice broke over the boys, loud and just as jeering as theirs had been. Only this voice was distinctly female. He knew this voice, and it shocked him into complete and utter horror as the teenage girl shot back callously at the men who had surrounded her in the corner of the alleyway. "C'mon then assholes, show me what you've got! I'll take the group of you on!"

'Oh good god, Mion?' For an instant he was nearly overwhelmed with a sense of deja-vu, it was all too familiar to him. He had found Shion in the same position as well, his first time meeting her apparently. However Shion had been all too-willing to sneak her way out of it, Mion's approach, as he had come to expect, was far more direct. She was outrightly challenging the foursome to an all-out brawl, and even though he was struck dumb by her ferocity, he wasn't entirely surprised by it. 'She probably didn't even try to weasel out of it like her sister would've... Dammit Mion, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into?' His decision was cemented before he even knew about it, there was no option for flight now.

"Are ya lookin' for a real fight bitch!? Ya wanna die that bad!?"

Keiichi wasn't entirely sure what it was that decided to move his legs but he was around the corner before he'd known what he was doing. His anger, which had been bubbling away coldly under a layer of calm rationality suddenly exploded as he took in the sight. Mion was backed to the wall and the gang had circled her completely to cut off any attempt of escape, and their hands were curled tightly into fists and were staring at the cornered teen with a mix of rage and lust. She looked none the worse for wear, only furious, and if he hadn't known her better he would have said that she was trembling out of fear. His eyes narrowing at the thought, Keiichi all but roared to make himself known, "Get the fuck away from her!"

A chorus of confused howls came from the thugs as they turned towards him, momentarily forgetting about their cornered prey at the sight of a new arrival. At once they took threatening steps forward, just as he had hoped, leaving Mion to the wall and putting him in their sights instead. He wasn't sure where his fear had gone to, all that mattered to him now was making sure that the gang failed to put a hand on the girl he was now in the middle of rescuing.

"Whaaaat?!"

"Who da hell?"

"Who're ya!?"

Their voices died down when he didn't speak, and he raised his head to reveal furious violet eyes that promised a bloody end to the scene he had just joined. He spared a quick glance towards Mion, making sure that she wasn't injured, and his worry was sated when she stared back at him with an honest bewilderment. 'Good, she's okay...' His jaw locked firmly and he took several slow steps towards the foursome, not even bothering to raise his hands, so sure he was in the sudden fury that it gave him an unknown strength. When he was close enough for them to jump at him, he stopped moving and answered their questions with a slow deliberateness. His hatred all but radiated off of him, and his words dripped with blatant malice as he hissed to them, "It doesn't matter who I am, all that you need to know is that if you don't get the fuck away from her in five seconds, I'm going to kill you."

"Who ya think ya are, shrimp-boy!?" The ringleader shouted, eyes bulging from his head as he took one more threatening step forward, hands raised in an informal fighting stance. Keiichi regarded him with a look that protrayed boredom, and that snapped the man who was used to fear and respect. Drawing his fist back, he readied to strike only he never made it there.

Mion had taken advantage of their distraction to get the jump on the thugs, and her foot had slammed with impressive strength into his ribcage. He crumpled to the ground, wheezing painfully and the remaining three turned back to see the green-haired teenager staring at them with sheer hatred. Her hands clenched and teeth grit, she snapped at them in a low tone, "_Nobody_ lays a hand on Kei-chan. I was even considering letting you off mercifully, but you just crossed the last line. Now me and him are going to wipe the floor with your faces. Isn't that right Kei-chan?"

"Damn straight, Mion. You bastards are going down."

**AN**

**Gehehe... (is shot) Sorry, lol. I really wanted to do this, and when I say really wanted to I mean I dreamt about it, that's how often I planned this scene out. It's been done twice in the original anime/manga/visual novel, but I wanted to do a real one with Mion and Keiichi instead of Shion, because I thought it would win. Then of course I'm going to leave it at a cliffie to boot... (runs away giggling maniacally) Hehe! (returns with a laugh) Sorry, but in all seriousness, who can see that playing out kinda like this anyway? OMG, inspiration for oneshot that be full of fluff! (really takes off this time)**

**PS: For finishing this up in a half-asleep state, I think I did a pretty damn good job on this chapter. XD**

**Sky**


	4. Reservations

"Ow..."

"Stop being such a wuss, it's just antiseptic." Mion scolded him firmly, ignoring Keiichi's grunts and mutters of discomfort as she applied the bandage to the gash above his right eye. She would have preferred to have watched him while sitting across the table to put as much distance between them as possible, but since it seemed like he had a phobia of treating his own wounds; she had to do it for him and that meant being much closer. Brushing gingerly at the blood that had dribbled down the side of his face, she muttered darkly, "Dammit Kei-chan, you just had to step in and get your ass kicked..."

"Hey, I actually helped drive those thugs off!" Keiichi exclaimed indignantly, only to receive a sharp smack above his ear, and that was accompanied by a harsh sting of the alcohol burning into the gash in his forehead. Part of him knew she was absolutely right, he wasn't skilled at hand-to-hand combat and even though he'd managed to hold his own against one of the bikers, Mion had taken care of three before helping him get away from the last and running them off. His pride was battered and he was bruised, yet he found himself still oddly content when he glanced sidelong at the girl who was tending, grudgingly, to his wounds.

Mion blinked twice when she noticed how his scowl was softening in the corners of his mouth, then she reddened sharply and more out of instinct than want, she all but shoved the bandage onto his face. He winced but didn't complain, and she quickly relocated herself to sit across from him, trying to control the raging tango that was her stomach. Desperately attempting to salvage what was possibly left of her pride and ignoring her womanhood completely, she asked sharply, "Wh-What are you looking at?"

Keiichi's first impulse was to retort smartly to her barb, it only seemed fair after the hits she'd made on his pride, after he'd risked his safety to come to her aid. 'Though she ended up saving me in the end, but still...' However he controlled himself, allowing his male arrogance to settle and become second to his true relief. He answered her honestly, eyes straying almost wearily over her dirtied clothes, tiredly pleased to see that she sported no injuries like he did. "I'm glad you're not hurt."

"Hurt?" Mion repeated, startled by the truthfulness that saturated the words he'd spoken. She knew his earnest nature well after the months they'd spent together in school, yet he always seemed to manage to surprise her when those words were directed at her. Her bravado disappeared as quickly as it had come, and Mion rubbed at her nose awkwardly, unsure of what to say. 'Why would he be worried that I was hurt? I mean seriously, the guy's totally banged up and he's just glad that I don't have a bruise to show for it?' "You really are a man of mysteries, Kei-chan."

"No, I really am glad that you're not hurt." Keiichi explained softly, turning his head away just a little when her green eyes widened with disbelief. He knew he sounded stupid, especially when she took such pride in her skills as a fighter, but he couldn't stop the words from rushing past his lips. "When I saw those guys surrounding you, I really thought that they were gonna–" He cut himself off sharply when an icy wave of rage crashed over him, demanding that he get up from where he sat, yank Mion across the table and embrace her so firmly that she'd never be in danger again. A sheer iron will and a sense of pride kept his arms on the table but the fury shook his body anyway and he forced himself to continue through grit teeth, "I thought those bastards were going to really hurt you. That really pissed me off, and I didn't think straight, but in the end... I'm just glad you weren't hurt. That's the only important thing."

Mion was torn between two different reactions, both of which stemmed from deeply ingrained natures that seemed to oppose each other. The first was her pride, and it demanded that she torture him in all ways possible for making the situation seem like she was a damsel in distress when in fact, she had been the one coming to _his_ rescue. The second, and possibly the weaker of the two, was her femininity that she usually tried to hide at all costs, though it had an uncanny habit of sneaking its way out whenever he was around. The latter was quite pleased with his confession and was silently urging her to do something to show her gratitude.

A beat of silence passed between the two, and Keiichi was abruptly glad of the distraction of the delivery from the waiter. Two steaming bowls of ramen were set on the table, and in an effort to not have to look up at Mion, he dug in with silent gusto. During these few seconds of strained silence however, an internal war raged on inside of Mion's head.

'Hit him over the head, Mion!' A voice that sounded very strangely like Satoko's screeched in her head, and she almost looked towards her left, fully expecting to see the petite blond by her side. The voice continued sharply, fuelling her with anger at each word that was shouted directly into her brain, completely and smugly supporting her pride, 'Who does he think he is!? You're Mion Sonozaki, you don't fear _anything_, especially some stupid thugs! You kicked their asses all by yourself, you didn't need him coming in to _save_ you, did ya!? You're no damsel in distress!'

Another voice, this time from her left, cut into her mind with a strange soothing tone, and Mion nearly slapped herself in the forehead. This time it was Rika, gentle and beseeching, that had taken on the role of her feminie side and was fighting against Satoko's bluster. It appealed directly to Mion's heart, reminding her with strange tenderness of the flame she'd carried and nurtured for Keiichi long before she ever would admit it aloud. 'Mii, come now... Keiichi was scared for you because he cares about you, it wasn't about hurting your feelings because he thought you couldn't fight. He saw you in trouble and rushed to your side to help, it was just his natural reaction. It's a sign that he cherishes you. He'd come in to save anyone, male or female, but you're special. He swallowed his pride and admitted that he was glad you were okay.'

Mion raised her hands, covered her ears for a moment, then hid her face in her palms. 'I think I'm going insane.' She moaned softly into her own skin for a second, allowing the differing arguments that took place using the voices of her dearest friends to wash over her. She really did want to hit him, fiercely, but he'd been battered enough and that made her wince with guilt. He hadn't thought twice about jumping into the fray, for her sake. 'Ughn...!'

Keiichi was silently stirring his ramen, unable to really take his second bite as the silence stretched on between the two teenagers. He couldn't look up at her either, terrified that he'd injured her feelings by not watching his words. 'I think I'm the biggest idiot that ever walked the face of the planet. First I wait way too late to realize how great a person Mion is, then I ruin her reputation by treating her like a damsel in distress, and then I rub salt in the wound. Dammit, it's no wonder she moved on from me, I don't even blame her anymore! God and all the others, how stupid am I seriously?!'

A slamming noise jolted him, and he looked up to see that Mion had just banged her hands down on the table. Her eyes were shadowed by her long hair, but he knew without knowing that she was upset. Her voice was gruff when she finally spoke, her body shivering as she stood up, hands splayed flat on the glass tabletop, "Air. I need some air." Without another word spoken, she sidestepped out of the booth and all but fled from the restaurant in her haste to get outside.

She only managed to make it a few steps before her feet turned into lead, and she cursed heavily for being unable to run like she wanted. She wasn't even sure about where she would run to, Shion's apartment was nearly six blocks away and she doubted that her sister had left it wide open the whole time she had been gone from Okinomiya. After transferring back the school, she hadn't found a reason to get rid of the place, claiming exuberantly that she would use it when she graduated and it was a waste to just give it up. 'Dammit Shion, you could have at least given me a key so I could use the place, it's kind of an emergency y'know!'

Though she knew it was petulant, she stomped her foot on the pavement and let out a loud curse that earned her quite a few reproachful looks from those passing by. Frustrated, embarrassed and quite confused, she did it again and again, allowing angry tears to trickle down her reddened cheeks.

It was painful, this confusion that choked at her throat and made it difficult to breathe. She'd come to rely heavily on her tomboyish front, she enjoyed being crass and tough while her sister remained feminine and clean. It was really one of the few ways she and Shion could be distinguished from each other, save the tattoo that Mion hid on her back. It confused her by how desperately she wanted to be her sister, how much she would have given to allow herself to give into that female part of her that had no idea how to act if it was set free.

"I wish... I was like you... Shion..." Mion closed her eyes and shouted out loud, not caring about the startled gasp that an old woman let out when her temper exploded into a tirade. She was well aware that everyone on the street could hear her, but she was beyond caring about it in the midst of her personal explosion of emotion. "What the hell is wrong with me!? One stupid guy waltzes into my life and seventeen years of living just turns upside-down! Who is he to give me an identity crisis!? I know exactly who I am! I'm Mion Sonozaki god dammit!"

Two hands, warm and gentle settled on her shoulders, startling her from her anger. She would have jumped and attempted to break free but she recognized the warm voice that whispered delicately into her ear and sent her pulse skyrocketing. "Yeah, you are Mion Sonozaki, even if you are screaming your lungs out right now."

"K-Kei-chan...?" Mion didn't dare turn to face him, mortified that he had overheard her outburst. His hands clenched around her shoulders, the grip firm but not too hard, and she could feel his chest pressed against her back, nearly holding her to him. His breath was warm on her ear, almost laboured. She shivered but a sheer force of will kept her standing tall and silent in the midst of the embrace.

"Look, I'm sorry if what I said hurt your feelings. I know you don't need any saving, you saved me for heaven's sake. I'm pretty much useless in a fight but I'm not gonna say I'm sorry for stepping in." Keiichi's voice was tight and he spoke through tightly grit teeth, which to Mion made him seem like he was fighting anger. He was, to be fair, however that anger wasn't directed at her, and it was a struggle to keep the lid closed down tight on it. Carefully, almost hesitantly, he pressed his face into her neck, sighing against the emerald-coloured ponytail that brushed against his cheek and continued roughly, "I'm not sorry. I'd do it again. You're... really important to me, alright? I don't want you to get hurt, even when you can defend yourself well. That's the only explanation I've got for you, Mion."

She wanted to remain angry at him, to keep her tomboy mask firmly fixed in place, but his hands on her shoulders slid the ice from her heart. Raising a hand, she brushed her eyes dry on her forearm before taking in a deep breath, too afraid to turn around. Hugging herself around the waist, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to absorb the feeling of his body so close to her own before she mumbled, "That was a really half-assed apology Kei-chan. You should treat girls better."

"You're not just any girl, you're Mion Sonozaki, remember?" Keiichi reminded her with a hint of his familiar cheer returning, and his smile broadened when she peeked over her shoulder at him. Releasing her shoulders, he instead offered his arm to her, explaining in as gentlemanly of a voice as he could muster, "But if you so wish, I'll treat you like a princess for the rest of the date. That is, if you're willing to try and salvage it." His voice became slightly mischievous when she raised one eyebrow, and he swept himself into a grandeur bow, "I swear I'm not this horrible when I eat out with a girl, I don't make a habit of making them cry, honest."

'Shit!' Mion searched hastily for a reason to deny her tears, yet she knew it would blow up in her face anyway. He'd overheard her tirade and wasn't likely to play dumb for her pride. Knowing the boy, he'd be more likely to spread it around the school just to get back at her for any and all punishment games that she had, or was planning, to put him through. Thinking quickly being a forte of a good gamer, she quickly found a solution and turned on him, one hand on her hip the other pointed at his nose for added effect. "I'll go back into the restaurant if you swear to never tell _anyone_ what happened today. I know where you live and you've seen my basement, I _will_ lock you down there if you let anything slip."

Keiichi grinned, absurdly relieved to hear the toughness back in her voice, and the glint in her eyes. While it had been a new occurrence to see her suddenly change into a true woman, it had scared him to think that his best friend was lost to him. This was the Mion he was used to, the one he truly wanted. 'Thank the gods...' Raising his hands in a sign of surrender, he allowed her to flick his forehead and swore solemnly, "Not a word will leave my lips while I breathe freely. Now will you come back inside with me before the manager thinks we dined and dashed?"

"I don't know, it'd be hilarious to watch you have a run-in with the law..."

"Oi, c'mon, don't do that to me! What my mom would do to me would make your torture chamber seem like ripping off a bandaid!"

The two continued to bicker and tease in that same fashion while they returned to the restaurant, not seeming to notice that their arms were entwined and that their shoulders pressed tightly together. The teenagers didn't notice a pair of intelligent dark eyes watching them either, and they went into the building, oblivious to their watcher.

Kenji chuckled softly, running a hand over his face as he drew back behind the wall, making sure that he was out of view. Part of him was honestly surprised by the sight he had just witnessed, the other was rather pleased. 'Shion was right on the money, Mion is totally head over heels for him. I've never seen anyone defuse her like that before... Heh, this will be real interesting if we keep this up, maybe one of them will even confess if we push a few more buttons...'

He couldn't help but smile, feeling the returning affection for his cousin as he remembered the gentleness in her eyes as she spoke of the boy that had recently turned everyone's lives upside-down. He could also feel the nagging voice of his conscience reminding him that he was walking down a dangerous road. It had been no easy matter to set up the ambush in the alleyway, and he'd been impressed by the brunette's ferocity when his cousin was involved. 'I'll need to apologize to her when it's all over for that, it wasn't too nice of me to get those thugs involved. Still, watching Mion wipe the floor with trash like that was pretty priceless...'

Folding his arms behind his head, he spared himself one last glance towards the windowed restaurant, catching sight of his favourite cousin laughing and teasing the boy who was going right back at her with jibes of his own. The two seemed completely content to be in their own little world, and Kenji had to grin with his own pleasure. He truly was going to enjoy stirring up mischief. With that thought in his mind, the boy walked off whistling a tune, a little chuckle punctuating the otherwise perfect notes of a cheery song.

* * *

"I'm not being too bad, am I, Satoshi-kun?" Shion's voice was soft, too soft to echo in the small, nearly empty room that she was in. The plastic chair was uncomfortable against her back, but she didn't really mind it, her attention was completely focussed on the boy that she had come to visit. The steady beeping of the heart monitor was almost a comfort to the green-haired teenager now, after so many hours spent sitting at the blond's beside.

Hesitantly, she reached out to gently brush a lock of his blond hair back from his face, blushing sharply when her skin lightly whispered along his own. Swallowing her embarrassment, she forced herself to finish the act before her hands returned to fold into her lap. Her eyes drifted along the steel walls of the chamber, coming to rest on the large teddy bear that had served as an impromptu and silent audience to all of her visits.

She took a moment to listen to the faint noises of the room, allowing them to wash over her, one by one and settle deep into her. The faint whooshing noise as he took a breath and exhaled into the mask that provided him with oxygen, the beep of the heart monitor and other machines that kept a watch on his vital signs, the steady drip of the IV that kept him asleep even when she yearned for his eyes to open. She didn't know how often she'd sat there in silence, listening and holding her breath, letting the environment become part of her being.

"I'm sort of scared, isn't that stupid? I'm worried that somehow what I'm doing with Kenji will blow up in my face, or worse, ruin Sis and Kei-chan's relationship." Shion mused aloud, rubbing sheepishly at the back of her neck as her eyes drifted back from the bear to the face that burned in her most terrible nightmares and pleasant dreams. Though his complexion was much paler than she remembered, the gentleness of his face still remained, even while he slept. "I could handle her being mad at me for intervening, but I don't think I could ever face Sis again if I screwed up their friendship. She'd hate me..."

He gave no answer, and that she was used to but her lips quirked anyway. She could imagine what he would say to her, the weeks she'd spent posing as Mion to be by his side had given her ample time to get to know the Hojo boy, and to fall in love with him. She could almost hear his gently chiding tone and the hand on top of her head as he told her not to worry. She let out a soft sigh, rubbing her eyes in case any of the wetness that had gathered there threatened to become true tears.

"I know, I know... She's my twin, she shouldn't ever hate me, but damn... I know how much she loves Kei-chan, I was willing to die to make sure that she had her chance with him..." Shion's face reddened sharply and her hands clapped themselves over her mouth as she realized what she had let slip. "Ah! S-Satoshi-kun that was before I actually knew you were okay, I wasn't just throwing my life away, honest I wasn't! Th-There was Satoko too, I couldn't let her get caught by Takano's thugs and besides only Kasai and I knew how to handle the machine guns–"

Shion cut herself off abruptly, slamming the palm of her hand squarely into her forehead. 'Rambling so stupidly, geez he has got to think I'm the most idiotic girl in the world...' Chewing on her lower lip, she fell into a strained silence, trying to think of what to say in a vain attempt to redeem herself. Closing her eyes as though he was awake and staring at her, she let her right hand settle over his, absently twining her fingers through his own for silent comfort. Her voice was low as she explained, "It's all coming out so wrong when I try to explain myself to you, I just can't seem to talk properly when I visit... I don't know why that is, I could actually have a proper conversation with you when I posed as Mion but... maybe it's because I'm 'Shion' when I'm with you here, and not my sister... I think I'm having an identity crisis..."

Satoshi slumbered on, and Shion couldn't help but find her lips quirking into a tender smile as she admired his face. Despite what she knew had happened to him, he still seemed as peaceful and innocent as she remembered. She touched his cheek again, though this time her hand did not tremble when she made contact with his pale skin. Her voice was soft but didn't shake, though the hesitancy remained, "I... I know it's so silly, considering that I only knew you for maybe a month or two before you were admitted here, but... I do love you, Satoshi-kun. Your smiling face, your sad face, even your angry face, I love them all... I just wish you'd had gotten a chance to know who _I_ was before... everything happened..."

She rubbed at her face, no longer embarrassed but honestly saddened. She couldn't remember how many times she had spoken those doubts aloud to him, part of her wondered if he would even be bothered after so long. A full year had passed by since he'd come to the hospital with Irie, for all she knew he may have forgotten that 'Shion' even existed. The thought was a painful one, but somehow the Sonozaki couldn't stop herself from returning every day, even if it was just to sit by his side for a silent hour.

"You know what...? I'm... kind of glad that you don't know who I am. After all, I'm not very special, and I'm sure you have way more fond memories of Sis than you do of me." Her smile was small, but there was a tinge of mischief in her expression as she said the words. Leaning in the chair but taking care to never release his hand, she added playfully, "But if you wake up and decide that you want to chase after Sis, I might need to stop you for her sake. Mion really does love Kei-chan, even if he's a bit too dense to realize it. Having Kenji trying to stir things up is one boy too many, if you got involved it'd just get even messier. Besides... it means I can try to... introduce myself to you all over again, but as 'Shion' this time..."

Shion slapped herself promptly for her last comment, and the stinging pain on her cheek seemed to snap her back to reality. A frown fixed on her face, she scolded herself firmly, "What is the matter with me? Complaining to Satoshi-kun after everything he's been through, that is not fair at all. He never got the chance to vent, so why should I put more problems onto his shoulders? Shion, you are a horrible excuse for a friend! That does it, from now on you are never to complain again!"

Though she knew it was probably a trick of her eyes, she thought she saw his lips twitch into something that could have resembled a smile. Her cheeks pinked at the thought, and with a sheepish giggle she spoke softly, "I'll read to you, Satoshi-kun, and tell you stories about Satoko and the rest of us so you don't have to worry about the dark things that are in the past. Happy stories will make you smile, right? That's what I want for you, to see you smile. You'd be so proud of your little sister, just like I am. So that's what I'll tell you from now on."

Glancing upwards after a long moment, she took notice of the lone clock in the room and started with a shock. "Oh crap, I've got to get going! Manager will be annoyed if I keep him waiting!" Jumping to her feet, she quickly turned to the door and made to hurry off before something stopped her. A weight had suddenly trapped her hand, followed by the slightest of pressures around her fingers that had been twined into Satoshi's just moments ago. The pressure was gentle, not nearly strong enough to hold her back, but she froze all the same like her arm had been weighted down with lead.

'Is...' Not allowing herself to finish the thought, Shion held her breath and very slowly turned her head towards the bed. His face remained as impassive as ever, however that was not what she was gazing at. His hand, which was still bound by the leather straps that held him to the bed, was resting underneath her own. Her fingers were still entwined with his own, bur what had shocked her was the gentle squeeze she was sure she had felt. 'Did he... was that...?'

As suddenly as the pressure had appeared, it vanished and the grip she swore she had felt slackened until she was clinging to a limp hand once again. For a split second, Shion felt a rush of a thousand new lives and deaths that she had never experienced before, and she was aware of something wet trickling down her face. Her feet moved robotically towards the door, keeping her stunned body on a firm auto-pilot so she didn't simply collapse where she stood.

She barely even remembered making it up the stairs and out of the basement, however she did remember hearing Satoko's raucous laughter, Hanyuu's astonished squeaking and Rika's lilting chuckle at her friends' antics. The noises brought her back to her senses, shoving her emotional disarray into the back of her mind to dwell on later. Drying her face with the back of her hand, she peeked around the corner before daring to venture into the front of the clinic, too worried to be caught by the three young ones.

A door shut from down the hall, and she could faintly hear the grumbling of her charge from the room that she'd entered. Feeling a bit more secure in knowing that Satoko couldn't see her, Shion made a quick flight from the doorway to the basement and into the waiting room. She was startled to see that Rika wasn't with Satoko, instead she was leaning on the wall beside the doorway, appearing to be waiting for something. She was even more surprised when Rika's head whipped around and her eyes widened for a split second before she smiled upon seeing Shion.

"Shi, I was so worried that you wouldn't be here... I'm glad that you are though, there's something that I want to talk to you about." Rika's voice seemed earnest, but Shion couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding when the shrine-maiden stared at her. Nodding towards the room that Satoko was in, she continued in a much softer voice, "Hanyuu promised to stall Satoko and Irie for me so I could speak with you if and when you showed up. So can we talk?"

"Uh... Talk?"

"Yes, there's something important that I feel we need to discuss. It's about Mi and Keiichi."

'Oh boy.'

**AN**

**FMA 102. That's all I need to say. I'm amazed I managed to keep the fluff in this story (Evie: You only wrote the last bit of Shion's visit after reading that update, shut up.) She's got a point but I made it pretty angsty on her part... (Evie: GET ON WITH IT!) Yes ma'am! Note to self, obey the plot fairy at all costs... (Evie: I HEARD THAT!) Oh good lord (takes off running)**

**Anywhosit, lol. I blame ISPS, school drama and a healthy dose of writer's block for this delay. But there's an update now, so it's all good... Also, future project that I'm debating on doing, a "what-if" story about Satoshi waking up... It's been done before so I don't really know if I want to go there, but... Meh, just wanted to toss the idea out there. Maybe I'll make a poll. XD**

**Sky**


	5. Unfinished Messages

"She told you to stop?" Rena asked in a conspiratorial whisper, looking around hastily to make sure that neither Keiichi or Mion were around to hear her talking with Shion. She was surprised to see the frustrated look on the green-haired teenager's face, and then her eyes turned to look at the shrine-maiden who was patiently explaining a mathematics equation to the confused Satoko and Hanyuu. "Rika-chan told you to stop?"

"Well she didn't exactly tell me to 'stop', but she hinted at it pretty damn nicely." Shion replied sourly, pouting her mouth and sinking down farther into her chair. She was glad to see that Keiichi was busily trying to help out Mion with her work and that seemed to keep the two oblivious to the conversation going on in the far corner. Lowering her own voice, she nodded towards Rika and continued, "She told me to 'proceed with caution', and she sounded really serious. Then..."

"_I know that you of all people do not to be reminded of this, but Mion is fragile, especially when Keiichi is involved. I don't believe that what you are doing is wise. There is a high chance that your ploy could blow up in all of our faces, and hurt Mion so badly that she can never recover. I do not want to see her go through this pain again, it was hard enough to watch her suffer after Keiichi's mistake repeatedly. I know you have the best intentions for your sister Shi, but... Be careful. Please."_

'I think she was referring to the previous worlds she told us about, with Takano. I don't really understand the theory, but she looked so serious...' Shion shook her head tiredly, locking eyes with the worried Rena who was sitting close to her side. Fighting to keep her voice level, she explained, "I think Rika is scared that I'm going to ruin them. I can't blame her honestly, I've been worried about the same thing too but damn... a little faith would be kinda nice..."

"I think that Shi-chan is being as careful as she can possibly be." Rena told her firmly, quickly taking the chance to look around the room to ensure that no one was trying to eavesdrop. Placing a hand over her heart as though to prove this, she added quite solemnly, "If I thought that you weren't taking the utmost care with Mi-chan's feelings, I never would have agreed to help. Mi-chan is my best friend and I want what will make her happy and I think your way is the best way to knock some sense into them. So, I'm going to help. Rika-chan is worried and she might have a right to be, but as long as you're really careful, I don't think it'll end up going badly. Besides, I'll be here to keep you in line too!"

"Heh, that's somewhat comforting and insulting at the same time." Shion teased half-heartedly, her enthusiasm for her plot had fallen remarkably after her talk with both Satoshi and Rika. There simply seemed to be no way to recover it. She knew that Rena was being honest with her, yet a nagging wonder continued to dig up and plant seeds of doubt in her mind. Turning to stare searchingly at her partner in crime, she could no longer keep the question from her mouth, "Rena, there's something I want to ask you about Kei-chan... Uh, you don't need to answer it if you think I'm being too prying, but... I want to know... Do you... Don't you _like_ Kei-chan too?"

Rena blinked, looking honestly surprised before a sheepish smile lifted her lips and a hint of pink dusted itself over her cheeks. Out of the corner of her eyes, she took an embarrassed glance over at the talking teen in question, then turned her attention completely to Shion. Playing with her pencil nervously, she took in a breath before she answered softly, "I... I do _like_ Keiichi-kun, but... I _love_ Mi-chan. Mi-chan was my first friend when I moved back to Hinamizawa, she treated me like I was her sister and invited me into the club without even thinking about it. I just want Mi-chan to be happy, dearly happy. If it means pretending that I don't like Keiichi-kun, that's okay because I know that they'll be happier with each other than they would be if I was with Keiichi-kun. Does that answer your question, Shi-chan? Does it?"

Shion was stunned, and it took her a few seconds to digest all of the information that Rena had so easily handed to her. She could remember Mion's stammered confessions over her crush on Keiichi that had slowly turned into an honest love, and she remembered telling her solemnly that with a rival like Rena she'd need to move fast. 'I totally underestimated her... I'm Mion's twin, but Rena is practically her sister.' Rubbing at her nose and turning her gaze to the nearly completed work in her schoolbook, she murmured softly, "Damn... Yeah, it answers my question... I'm sorry I put you in this position Rena, that's really not fair of me, I should have considered–"

"Shi-chan is Mi-chan's sister, you do whatever you can for your sister to be happy even if she doesn't approve of the methods. I may be an only child, but I understand that much about siblings. I know that you love Mi-chan as much, or more, than I do, so it's all okay." Rena interrupted her smoothly, raising a hand into the air and closing her eyes as though she was reciting holy scripture. She opened one eye, grinning with mischief as she added on cheekily, "Besides, it's not as if you knew everything before you jumped into your plot, right? I already volunteered to help, and so I will keep my word. Rena Ryuugu never goes back on her word!"

"Which basically means anything cute is destined to go home whether or not it wants to." Shion grinned broadly, elbowing her friend gently in the ribs. The two burst into silent but frantic giggles, giving them the much needed relief from the heavy topic. When they finally managed to catch their breath, the sound of a chiming bell signalled the end of the school day.

Almost at once and in perfect harmony, seven heads snapped up to attention and a rainbow array of coloured eyes met each other's, each shining with their own particular brand of mischief. Satoko moved first, all but upsetting her desk and chair as she bolted out the door to run outside, leaving her friends in the dust and laughing at her eagerness. The only one not chuckling was Keiichi, he looked positively depressed as he eyed the blond blur that whipped by the window just a moment after Satoko had disappeared.

"What's up with you, Kei-chan? Worried that Satoko is going to kick your ass again today?"

Rika seized Keiichi's arm to stop him from going berserk on the twins who had chorused the line, and who were now laughing loudly as they followed the blond's suit. She was chuckling too, knowing full well that Satoko had been working almost through the night to set up her traps for the challenge. Having been forced to be 'it' for the remainder of the week due to her uncharacteristic loss from their last battle, she was determined to bring the rest of the club crashing down. "C'mon Keiichi, you know that Shi and Mi are just teasing you."

"What pisses me off is that Shion probably knows where Satoko hid all of her traps and so she'll get off clean." Keiichi grunted unhappily but he didn't give chase to the girls. Instead he brought up the rear with Rika, Hanyuu and Rena having run ahead the moment the twins made their move. He grunted again, his voice sour, "Stupid 'nee-nee', it's totally unfair that she gets to have it easy."

"Well she does love Shi very much. However I think that Satoko loves all of us very dearly, after all, have you ever seen her play the traps with so much dedication on anyone other than ourselves?" Rika questioned cheekily, looking up to notice how Keiichi's eyes widened. He seemed surprised, then his smile gentled as he realized what she was hinting at. Skipping forward a few steps, she turned around and winked at the brunette boy. "We should change into our gym clothes in case we get too dirty, I have a feeling that today's game will really be messy."

Keiichi chuckled, knowing she was right due to the fact that he couldn't see Rena, Shion, Hanyuu or Mion anywhere outside. He guessed that Satoko had already been prepared for this and had taken off early to check on her traps. Nodding his head and waving a hand, he called to Rika as she too took off towards the change-rooms, "Don't start without me, will ya?!"

"No promises, nippah!" Rika called back, laughing girlishly as she broke into a sprint to meet up with her fellow girls. She wasn't surprised to see that they were already finished, they had always been quite quick in preparing for their usual games. Rena was frowning as she stared at her shirt, clearly debating something while Shion was patiently helping her twin to put her hair back up into its customary ponytail. Looking around, she was surprised to find that she couldn't see Hanyuu anywhere and asked with confusion, "Where did Hanyuu go?"

"Satoko kidnapped her." Shion answered with a slight chortle, only to wince when Mion patiently stepped on her foot for ignoring the task at hand. Grimacing, she repaid the favour by yanking just a bit too hard on her sister's hair and tightly wound the elastic before continuing in a patient tone, "She needed someone to keep watch while she does maintenance so Hanyuu seemed like the most logical choice. I'm sure she's somewhere outside."

"Ooh, Hanyuu-chan is helping out Satoko-chan? So cute, so cute! I've decided what's going to happen when I win today, they're coming home with _me_!" Rena squealed, clapping her hands together excitedly. Both twins looked at her with amused grins, while Rika tried her best to not smile even while her body shivered with mirth.

Rika quicky swapped her uniform with her the gym clothing, and watched as Mion made a point of rolling up her sleeves to leave her arms bare. Shion played with her own, as if debating to copy her sister but finally shrugged and gestured for Rena to follow them outside. Rika grinned and followed swiftly behind, asking playfully, "Who do you think Satoko will catch first?"

"Kei-chan most likely. She really wants to humiliate him for giving out the punishment." Mion answered promptly, nearly smirking as she thought pleasantly of what sort of punishment he'd get in return for being the first caught. She had to admit that while Keiichi's plan of setting Satoko up in their last game of Old Geezer had been brilliant, her punishment of having to be it for the next five games of tag was a little cruel of him. "Those two go at it like cat and mouse every time they get a chance, so I can't exactly blame her."

"Well it's nice of Mi-chan to play tag this week so Satoko-chan can get her punishment over with." Rena tacked on peaceably, nearly skipping in her steps as she maintained her position between the twins. Mion smiled with a hint of embarrassment and merely shrugged, earning a snicker from Shion on the left.

The moment they were outside, Rika was nearly bowled over by a familiar mauve-haired blur that attached itself desperately to her waist. Shion nearly fell over herself in the process of holding back her laughter at the sight, while Mion just gave up and started snickering. Rika's confused expression drew Rena's attention immediately and she couldn't help but start squirming against the knee-jerk reaction to kidnap the two Furudes.

"Rika! I was so scared, Satoko kidnapped me! I never knew she could be so horrifying!" Hanyuu wailed, hiding her face in Rika's shirt as she tried and failed repeatedly to get back on her feet. At this declaration, Mion laughed even harder and even Shion seemed to be having a great deal of trouble with holding her laughter back. Looking up at her older and laughing friends, Hanyuu pulled off the best pout she had ever made and whimpered, "B-But it's true... Satoko is _terrifying_..."

"Of course she's terrifying, the girl can make traps that scare the army. I'm scared of her." Keiichi's voice broke in, and all of the girls turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed at the back of his neck, but he still appeared sympathetic to Hanyuu's plight. "What? It's true isn't it? The girl took down how many of the Yamainu goons by herself? She's good. I don't blame Hanyuu for being scared of her."

"As much as I hate to say it, Kei-chan actually has a point and who knew I'd ever say I agreed with that idiot." Mion seemed to grin, shaking her head as she thought of it. Avoiding a vengeful stomp on her foot from her sister, she simply shrugged and then pointed to the blond who had finished with her work and was now waiting for them to assemble. "Looks like she's finished, shall we get ready?"

"I don't want to get caught..."

"Nobody wants to get caught Keiichi-kun!" Rena giggled softly, cocking her head to the side when he gave her a strange look. Smiling broadly, she turned on him and waved to a waiting Satoko, calling to the blond, "Sorry for the wait Satoko-chan, we're all here now, we're all here!"

"Good, now we can get started!"

* * *

Exactly forty minutes has passed since the beginning of the game, and Keiichi knew that three of his comrades had fallen victim to Satoko's expertise. Hanyuu had been the first to go, though that didn't surprise him considering her newness to the club. Rika's capture had surprised him then, especially when she'd been caught by a pitfall that normally she would have effortlessly evaded. The third had truly shocked him, he'd heard Shion or Mion scream in shock followed by a rather loud thumping noise, and he could only pray that the trap-master hadn't killed either of the twins.

Crouching down behind the crate he was hiding behind. he wondered absently how Rena and the twins were faring. Though he had no idea which had been caught, he couldn't help but hope that Mion had somehow gotten free and escaped somewhere to evade Satoko and her growing legion of zombie followers.

The door to his hiding place, the toolshed in the yard, opened with a soft whooshing noise. Keiichi nearly threw himself flat onto the floor with a curse, but his self-control allowed him to merely crouch down further. He heard a soft exhale from the intruder, then the door closed once more. 'They're inside...? Shit, I can't get out now!' Gritting his teeth, he tried to make himself invisible as the footsteps travelled somewhat hesitantly in his direction now that his escape was cut off. Knowing that it was stupid, and probably cowardly, Keiichi shut his eyes and prayed that his racing heartbeat wouldn't give away his location.

His plan was foiled however when a heel sunk into his ribcage, and he gasped in shock. The pressure wasn't enough to be painful, and when he looked up he could only glimpse the back of the offender before they went sprawling onto him. Reacting mostly out of instinct, Keiichi's hands shot out to catch the falling girl and wound up winding his hands around their waist as they crashed right into his chest when he tried to right himself.

"Ow!"

"Damn!"

Keiichi thought he had been struck by lightning when he heard the familiar voice of a Sonozaki grunting out a curse in his ear, and for a moment he'd frozen. The girl was resting on top of him, loose green hair flowing down her shoulders and bright emerald eyes staring at him with a mirroring expression of surprise. 'Shion?!' For a moment he was almost about to ask her to get off of him, but a cry from outside of the shed stopped all of his thoughts and he yanked her down so that she was basically laying on top of him to hide from their comrades outside.

"Crap! I can't find him anywhere!" Satoko exclaimed angrily, her voice ringing out quite nicely above the startled gasps of the teenagers who hid just a few feet away from her. The sound of her stomping her foot also blocked out the hasty whisper that she made when her face was pushed, albeit gently, into the chest of the boy she was lying on.

"K-Kei-chan–"

"Shh!" Keiichi hissed tersely as she tried to struggle out of his grip, and he used his hand to hold her head against his chest again, ignoring the rampant thudding of his heart in his ears. Even though he knew that disaster was waiting for him if he made too much noise or drew attention to himself, his body couldn't stop marvelling how _soft_ she felt against him. He could feel some part of his head dancing insanely at the predicament, it was some long lost dream coming true and at the worst of times. 'Why now!? You can't give me a good gift when I'm alone at home!?'

"It's alright, Satoko." Rika broke in through Satoko's furious tirade, her soft voice seeming to be an antidote to her friend's annoyance. She continued to wheedle kindly and thoughtfully, "You'll catch Keiichi soon enough, but for now we need to keep on hunting for who we haven't caught yet."

Thankfully, and with some regret he noted, his comrade stopped squirming and simply lay still, though he knew that she wasn't the least bit pleased with what he'd done. Shion's breathing was coming in erratic bursts, and though he couldn't see her face he knew that she was blushing something fierce if the heat on his shoulder was any indication. Her voice was hoarse when she muttered, "Gods..."

"I SEE RENA!" Hanyuu's voice interrupted the soft grunt and sent the two jumping in alarm at the transfer student's cry of triumph. She summoned the two girls with another loud shout, "Come on, we have to get her, she's running around the back!"

"We can cut her off if we split up, go right Rika!" Satoko ordered her minion, and her battle cry faded off as she left the toolshed alone and went in for her newest prey.

The two remained where they were in dead silence for almost a full minute, too afraid to move and be caught. When he was finally assured that the danger had passed, Keiichi released her and immediately sat up, turning his head so he wouldn't have to see the deadly scowl on the face of the girl he'd just harassed. 'Shion is going to be royally pissed that I did that... Thank the god Mion didn't catch us in that position, she'd be so pissed–'

"Th-Thanks for that."

Keiichi nearly jumped out of skin, and he turned his head to get a good look at the girl who was sitting rather demurely at his left. The light from the window above them illuminated the pink in her face and the sheepishness in her eyes, and he knew immediately that his thinking had been backwards. Her hair was loose and flowing down her shoulders like her sister normally did, and while her sleeves remained unrolled, he knew well enough to see through the facade of the switch. "M-Mion?!"

"E-Eh? Wh-What? I'm n-not Mion, I'm Shion!" The lie was a poor one, and she knew immediately that Keiichi saw through her. Face reddening sharply, Mion's face fell into her hands and she groaned softly at her lack of luck. Coughing several times, she finally squeaked out between her fingers, "How did you know?"

"No matter what you wear or how you put your hair, I know my best friend well enough to tell when she's not her sister." Keiichi answered with a quiet snort, and he was rather pleased to see how her eyes lit up for a brief moment at his words. While her face still remained as red as ever, she was sitting a bit taller now and didn't seem quite as embarrassed as she had just a few seconds ago now that he was remaining casual. Leaning back against the wall, he asked curiously, "So why are you pretending to be your sister anyway? Did you blackmail her into getting out of getting tagged or something?"

"Nah, I'm doing a favour for Shion today, I didn't blackmail her into anything." Mion waved her hand at the thought, though her smile grew devilish when she added cheerily, "Though thanks for the idea, I'll save that for someday when I need a big favour from her." Saving a few moments to chuckle with Keiichi over the plot, she then continued her explanation, "Shion wants to cook for Satoko, Rika and Hanyuu tonight, so I volunteered to pick up her shift at Angel Mort. So we figured that we'd just swap early."

Though he knew it would just embarrass her again if he said it, Keiichi couldn't help but reach out to tap her playfully on the nose and exclaim in a hushed voice, "That explains why you stepped on her foot earlier for badmouthing me! Normally 'Shion' never cares if 'Mion' is being her normal crass self."

"N-Not true, I was just trying to remind her that she owed me, so to keep quiet!" Mion argued with a grumble, careful to keep herself from shouting so not to be caught. The grin that Keiichi wore however told her that he didn't believe her, but she couldn't find it in herself to remain annoyed. Shaking her head, she held her knees to her chest and let out a little sigh as she sat silently in the shed, just a foot away from the boy that had saved her on more than one occasion. "You can't let anything go, can you, Kei-chan?"

"Nah, not really. It's not in my nature." Keiichi replied with another little chuckle, though he was startled by the stab of pain that his words brought him. Noticing that she wasn't looking at him, he took the chance to sweep his gaze over her and take in everything he thought he had known.

It had been confusing to him at first, differentiating the twins, but he'd become remarkably adept at doing it now. He knew the softness that Mion had that Shion didn't possess, though he hadn't thought so when he'd met her. The blushing, nervous and shy girl that he'd seen Mion become stuck out more prominently than ever to Keiichi, and he hated himself for taking so long to notice it. 'I really... missed out, didn't I...?'

Though he knew it was wrong, he couldn't stop himself from reaching out towards her. She stiffened when she felt his fingers ghosting along her skin before lazily tucking a lock of her emerald hair behind her ear. She turned to look at him, both reproachful and abashed, only to freeze when she read the intensity in his eyes. Her mouth dried and she was numbly aware of something tightening in her chest and stomach when she asked, "Kei-chan...?"

He didn't answer her, but he did slide closer, and his fingers spread along her cheek, cupping her face with a tenderness she'd never felt from him before. There was a strange hesitancy that she didn't like on his face, but he didn't seem to stop when he leaned in close, his nose almost touching her own now. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart pounded a vicious tattoo against her ribcage. She could feel his soft exhale on her lips, and she shivered with delicious anxiety. 'Is he...?'

The moment was to remain forever broken by the door slamming open and a triumphant cackle that the two knew quite well. They almost threw themselves to the opposite ends of the toolshed, and thankfully the light of the outside only caught them both in the aforementioned position. Satoko stood in the doorway with a huge smile on her face, and her minions behind looked just as smug as she did at the prey they had found.

Shion, who was careful to keep herself away in case Keiichi outed her ruse, was nearly beside herself with laughter as she watched her ward tag both her sister and her crush. Rika and Hanyuu had playfully taken up the role of zombie minion to heart and were laughing eerily as they backed up their ringleader in the process. 'Hmm, hiding in the toolshed with Sis, huh, Kei-chan? I might need to punish you for that later. You're not allowed to violate our agreement this early in the plot, that's just not fair.'

"The punishment game for this time is... full out cosplay for the entire day tomorrow! _And_ you have to stay in your outfits for the entire school day and can't taken them off till you get home!" Satoko announced, and a chorus of groans immediately ensued from the gathered victims. Hanyuu sighed and slouched in on herself, hanging on desperately to Rika's arm even though she seemed to have been resigned as well.

Rena however looked entirely delighted, and Shion palmed her face and reminded herself to tell Rena that she too was a victim of the game and couldn't take anyone home in that state. Holding her back patiently by the arm so she wouldn't lose her control early, Shion peeked over Satoko to see that both Keiichi and Mion were being uncharacteristically silent despite the punishments that had just been doled out. 'Hnn, I wonder what we interrupted...'

"Oh shit, my shift starts in an hour, I gotta get going!" Mion burst out suddenly, catching a glimpse of the time when she saw the watch on Keiichi's wrist. She made to bolt when a firm hand around her own wrist stopped her, and in confusion, she turned to see Keiichi holding onto her with a hint of awkwardness in his face.

"Uh, can you wait a second...? I just wanna talk to you before you go." Keiichi was well aware of Shion's gaze on him, as well as the curious ones of Satoko, Rika and Hanyuu. Despite himself, his face began to redden and he clarified sheepishly, "Alone."

"Well if he wants to, let's let him. I promised to cook for the girls tonight anyway." Shion waved a hand in a vague 'I don't care' gesture, all the while shooting daggers at the boy who dared to toe the line of their agreement. Placing a hand absently on top of Satoko's head, she nodded towards the school and shrugged, "Let's go and get our stuff then and leave him be."

"Eh... Oh." Satoko shook her head when her confusion halted, realizing that her adopted older sister had been the one she'd caught earlier. Absently taking her by the hand, she decided to keep her curiosity to herself and asked she instead, "What are you cooking for dinner tonight anyway, Shion-san? Please tell me there's no pumpkin involved."

"You're going to be disappointed, Shi always makes sure you have pumpkin, how else will she make you get over your aversion?"

"Uh huh, you're right Rika-chan!"

"Ughn, please no!"

Keiichi silently thanked the gods above that Shion was being so hospitable, and he waited patiently for the others to also drift away before he dared to turn towards Mion again. Their bickering faded off the farther away they got, and he had a second burst of gratitude for Mion's twin when he realized that she'd brought up the pumpkin to keep the others occupied. Now that he was turned back to Mion, he saw that she was regarding him with honest curiosity, but she couldn't hide the pink in her face as she waited for him to begin speaking. Deciding it was best to not drag out the situation, he began hoarsely, "Uh, look, I just wanted to apologize for–"

"Don't apologize, nothing... happened anyway, so... it's all good." Mion shrugged, hating the way that the words rolled so easily off of her tongue as she spoke. She noticed how he winced when she finished, and immediately wished that what she had said hadn't been the case. 'Was he going to kiss me, back there...? I...'

"_Mi-chan is in love, I know this, and I know that you know it too, even if you don't want to admit it. Mi-chan has nothing to be embarrassed about though, because it's a good thing. You should tell him."_

Wincing as though the memory of Rena's words physically hurt, Mion had to close her eyes tightly and take several deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, she could clearly see Keiichi's worry as he watched her, and his hands were clenched tightly at his sides as though he was trying to refrain from reaching out to touch her. Immediately abashed by the idea, she managed to cough before a squeak would give away her feelings. She instead tried to summon the courage that continuously abandoned her whenever she could try to grasp it.

'Rena is entirely right, I need to tell him exactly how I feel before something big happens to make it impossible. I nearly died for hell's sake! I faced down a gun for this guy, telling him that I... that I really care about him isn't nearly as scary as a bullet to the head, right? C'mon Mion, you're a Sonozaki, start acting like it!'

Keiichi saw the change in her posture, and he nearly smiled when she opened her eyes to reveal a determination that was quite familiar to him. He knew at once that her inner pep talk had apparently worked, and he leaned back in anticipation of the truth that he'd been waiting to hear. 'She's going to tell me about her boyfriend, of course she is... I nearly kissed her, that's basically like making her cheat on him... She has to spell it out... Why did I nearly kiss her in the first place? I know she's taken!'

His stomach wrenched painfully, causing a pressure he had never felt before in the depths of his heart. It nearly brought angry tears to his eyes to feel this strange new pain, and it brought a wave of emotion raging through him. Keiichi's body was split two ways, one was eager to hear her claim her status, to forever keep himself for reaching out to take her because honour demanded it. He couldn't dirty her reputation because he cared about her that much, and until she admitted it aloud it would never seem real and he would never stop. The other didn't want to hear it, and it hoped it never would. Even while knowing it was completely wrong, if he denied the truth and pretended that it never existed... He could go on hoping.

"Kei-chan, I..."

**AN**

**Dun, dun, dun... A Christmas cliffie. What will Keiichi discover, will it be Mion's true feelings or will she be interrupted again? Why am I asking the audience this? XD Sorry, lol, I shouldn't tease because that's just cruel. Ahem, anyway... Merry Christmas to all my dear readers, I hope you have an awesome one and that Santa totally delivered for you under that tree! (I know he certainly did for me, I GOT A LAPTOP!) Hehe. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fanfic!**

**(hands out gingerbread cookies)**

**Sky **


	6. Misunderstood Scenes

Mion Sonozaki was many things, but she had never considered herself to be a coward, or a quitter. At the moment however, the young heiress could have happily thrown herself under a bus without a second thought or hesitation. Staring down a rather greasy-looking customer, she reminded herself angrily that she wasn't 'Mion' but her sister 'Shion' and wasn't allowed to take out her frustration on the man without costing her twin her hard-earned job. Still, in the midst of her ever mounting anger, she was having a very hard trying to remember the reasons why she loved Shion.

The high-pitched howling of the customer broke through her violent thoughts, reminding her harshly that he was still waiting on an apology that she really didn't want to give. She had a very hard time wanting to apologize for having her feet kicked out from under her and spilling the rich dessert into the young man's pants, exactly what she was sure he and his posse had wanted. "My pants are totally ruined, look at what you did! They were such an expensive pair, how are you going to make up for it?"

"Make up for–" Mion began fiercely, cutting herself off with a savage snap. She tried desperately to reign her fury in and breathe to clear her head but the whining boys were making it incredibly hard. Though she knew it wasn't right of her, she was still incredibly hurt and annoyed by Keiichi's interruption from a few hours ago. He'd sheepishly explained that he didn't want her to be late, and that he would prefer to hear her important message later and in private. Understanding, but not pleased, she had accepted the offer for him to pick her up from work and take her to dinner again. She was fiercely regretting this now, and part of her was ranting endlessly about never trusting the male race ever again, and another tiny part of her was quite eagerly debating a trip to the yakuza part of her family just to even the score for her pride.

At that moment though, she would have traded her left leg for a chance to flee and possibly never come back to Japan. It was a harsh whine that brought her back down into reality, and her teeth grit dangerously hard together. Three hours remained however on her shift, but she wasn't sure she'd make it through it if she had to continuously deal with the perverts that filled the restaurant. Part of her was honestly surprised to think of how her sister dealt with the men who pulled such pranks, the other didn't really care and wanted to vent, regardless of the consequences. Hands gripped into tight fists, she forced herself to keep a level head and explain patiently, "I am very sorry for your pants, but it was an accident."

'Ha! Accident _my ass_ you piece of shit! Trip me up to wipe the dessert off your crotch, will you? I'd sooner distinct myself with both of my hands _and_ my feet before I even touch you!' Mion raged inwardly, wishing that she could let her emotion fly and knock a few teeth loose, and possibly then some.

"Wipe the pants! Wipe 'em! Wipe, wipe, wipe!"

The refrain was quickly picked up by the surrounding tables, and Mion twitched visibly when she saw the other waitresses looking on with sympathetic expressions. She had seen the same trick played on some of them, and even while knowing that the girls were quite tough, in this season it was almost illegal for them to not cater to the customer's whims. The Angel Mort depended heavily on the money that the boys brought in, and losing any business was simply not an option. Another reason why the perks were so outrageously good in the restaurant, it was almost essential to make up for the harassment the poor girls went through.

Her sister hated the work, she'd admitted as such several times, yet she always managed to find an excuse to keep it up, and many were sound. Shion refused to return home after being disowned and sent off, and Mion couldn't blame her for it. She'd fought tooth and nail, quite literally, to secure herself at Angel Mort and in Okinomiya. She was assuring her livelihood, and her pride, with the job. Mion sympathized greatly with her sister, and loved her dearly, but to kneel at the feet of a clearly horny boy of eighteen or nineteen and meekly fulfil an erotic fantasy was something she simply would not do.

Mion threw the napkin, albeit gently, into his lap and hissed, "You can do it yourself, there's no way in hell I'm getting on my knees for you. Clean up after yourself." To her pleasure, the acne-riddled teen looked as though he'd been slapped across the face by her denial. Turning around, she stalked back to the work-room amidst the cheers from the other girls who had watched the scene.

She felt a pat on her back but ignored the voice of whoever was congratulating her, busily rifling through her locker to find her clothes. She was beyond caring that her shift wasn't up, she'd had enough for one day and refused to spend another minute voluntarily in the place. Yanking off the tight leather of her uniform, she cursed the boy, the world, and her sister with everything she could think of. Now changed and free of what was keeping her identified as her sister, Mion stormed out of the restaurant and back to the streets of the city without looking back.

Rudely pushing aside a tall figure that had gotten in her way, she was still muttering foul-mouthed oaths as she rounded the corner to the next block. She ignored their indignant holler and made to keep on stomping away until a hand closed around her shoulder to jerk her to a stop. Incensed, Mion whirled and opened her mouth to let them have it, voice a deadly snarl of fury, "Look dumbass, I don't know if you can tell or not but I'm already in a real bad mood–"

She was cut off by a chuckle she knew very well, and her mouth fell open with a popping noise as she looked up into the amused face of her favourite cousin. Kenji leaned back on the balls of his feet, arms crossed and face wide with a smile as he waited expectantly for the rest of her tirade. Flushing with embarrassment, the teenager opted for silence when her mind finished processing the fact that she'd nearly bitten off his head.

"Well, I'd ask how you're doing but judging from how you pretty much knocked my shoulder outta it's socket, I'm gonna guess that something pissed you off." Kenji's voice was warm, and his dark eyes glinted with amusement as he watched his embarrassed cousin attempt to right her mental equilibrium. "So in that light, I've got two questions; the first is what happened to piss you off, and the second, can I beat the hell outta whoever it was?"

Mion snorted quietly, feeling the tight knot of emotion in her stomach beginning to loosen with each passing second. Her cousin had always had the strange ability to calm a situation and bring out the best in people, and she was grateful for his presence now. Crossing her arms over her stomach, she shrugged mildly and explained, "I was filling in for Shion at Angel Mort so she could keep her dinner date with Satoko, now I'm kinda regretting it."

Kenji blinked, confused, then his eyes narrowed when he saw that she wasn't meeting his eyes. Taking a shot in the dark, he asked offhandedly, "Does any of this have to do with that Maebara kid? Cause if it does, I'll happily drag him here and beat him to a pulp for you."

"If it was Kei-chan, I would've beaten him myself." Mion replied with a flick of her wrist, ignoring his deep-throated chuckle. Rubbing at her forehead, she let out a sigh and decided to give him the full explanation. "Some creeps at work decided it'd be funny to trip me up and try to force me to wipe off some cake from this guy's pants. I basically told him to piss off, and I left. I am sorry about your shoulder by the way, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going..."

"Obviously." Kenji rolled his eyes skyward, and promptly took a step backwards to avoid getting a punch in the arm for his comment. He continued to examine her, noting the frustration in the depths of her eyes, a sure sign that something other than the incident at work was bothering her. Knowing that she was more than likely to kill herself before confessing to anything more, he asked quietly, "You sure you're alright? My car's not far from here, I can take you home if you'd like."

"Thanks for the offer, but I've gotta pass. Kei-chan was supposed to meet me after my shift, but since I ditched, I'll just wait around for him." Mion pinked slightly at her admission, but Kenji wisely didn't tease her. However, she knew that he would jump all over the opportunity the second he got it, she added sourly, "And if you get any ideas about crashing so you can scare him, I promise that I will make you suffer."

"Why would I do that?" Kenji questioned innocently, placing a hand to his throat for dramatic effect in hopes of making her laugh. She didn't, but he did see a slight quirk in her lips, and that comforted him. Whatever had been bothering her wasn't enough to totally ruin her sense of humour. "I do wanna meet the kid though, after hearing so much about him. Can I hang around with you long enough just to get a 'hey' in?"

Mion narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and her hands settled on her hips as she raked her favourite relative over with her gaze. He looked innocent and sincere enough, however her cousin had a bad history of pulling off any and all masks to get what he wanted. She'd bonded enough with him to already know most of the tricks he held up his sleeve. "If you say anything, and I mean _anything_, I'll kill you Kenji. I want to talk to him about some important stuff, and if you ruin it..."

She left the threat hanging, and Kenji instinctively moved out of her reach in case she decided to run the point home. 'Taught her too well, I'm regretting that now that she's grown up. She has a hell of an arm, and an even better kick...' Wincing at the memory of one of his worse moments in their brawls, he raised his hands in a sign of surrender but took care to angle himself so she couldn't easily nail him. "I'll keep my mouth tightly shut, and be on my best behaviour if you let me meet your boyfriend."

"And you wonder why I keep you at arm's length when it comes to my friends." Mion griped, swatting him good-naturedly in the chest. He caught her hand and yanked her forward into a suffocating bear hug, and only after a few moments of struggling did she giggle and accept the embrace. He was simply too magnetic to ignore or be cold to, and he knew it and would use it to his advantage whenever he got the chance. "Okay, okay, you can meet him but only for a few seconds and remember, no embarrassing comments!"

"He is a guy, isn't he? Why can't we share some dirty jokes?" Kenji asked with raised eyebrows, and he wasn't fast enough to avoid that second hit to the shoulder. Her eyes flashed dangerously, a warning that she wasn't going to take anything stupid from him. Deciding it was probably best to keep on the defence, he raised his hands and surrendered peaceably. "Point taken Mion-chan, I'll keep the mouth shut and my dirty jokes to myself. Good enough for you?"

A quiet grunt was his only answer, but it was enough for him. He threw his arm casually around her shoulder and kissed the top of her hair in a comforting gesture, and she let out a soft sigh. Looking up to see his warm smile, the last bit of annoyance melted away and she mumbled, "I really hate it when you do that... I can't stay pissed off when you're around."

"You can't stay pissed off when any of your family's around, minus the old hag. You love them too much." Kenji answered cheekily, and he kept his grip tight around her so she wouldn't lash out again. He'd heard enough about their problems with the current head of the family to know that Mion put up with her grandmother for the sake of the Sonozaki name.

"Ughn, I hate it when you're right."

"It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's memorable." Kenji quipped brightly, and he tightened his arm playfully on her shoulders and he turned her around to face the tourist district of Okinomiya. A huge grin adorning his face, he announced cheerily, "Now I know you have a dinner date in a few hours, but I feel good today, so I'm gonna treat you to one of your favourites while you wait."

"One of my favourites?" Mion repeated slowly, blinking twice with confusion and looking up to see the mischievous expression on his face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Crepes right? You loved those things when you were a kid, didn't you?" Kenji chortled playfully, reaching out to ruffle her hair with a gentle hand. Wrinkling her nose, she pulled away and attempted to straighten her messy bangs, glaring at him till he grinned. "Shion-chan liked the strawberry, but you were banana-chocolate. C'mon cousin, let's go."

"I hate you, like, I really hate you."

"You'll get over it."

* * *

'I shouldn't have interrupted her. I should have just heard her out instead of being a selfish prick.' Keiichi ranted inwardly, hating himself more with every step he took that carried him closer to where she was waiting for him. He could still see the hurt in her eyes as he quietly explained that he'd like more privacy for her news, and though she'd agreed readily enough, he knew already that he'd ruined a moment. The moment.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to totally be angry about his selfishness, the interruption had brought him relief, it had bought him a few hours of feigned ignorance. He didn't want to hear the truth about her relationship, it seemed too real to him, especially after everything he had finally figured out. He wanted to believe that he still had a ghost of a chance with her, even if she was already gone from his reach.

'I'm the biggest asshole ever... how much suffering did she go through while I ignored her and how she felt? Now that she's finally happy, I'm getting jealous and mad that somebody took her away from me... It's not like she belongs to me or anything, right?'

Keiichi let out a sigh, raising a hand to massage his forehead where the beginnings of a headache was starting to ring. Memories that he'd never thought too much of were haunting him, little smiles that Mion had sent his way that he'd returned cheerfully, not realizing the real intent between her hesitant and hopeful gestures. Shion's playful yet not so playful attitude when she got in between them, laying out hints that were so obvious now but invisible at that moment.

"I wonder how she's going to tell me... It'll be hard to fake myself." Keiichi mused, wrinkling his nose as he tasted the bitter thoughts. He tried to imagine her bright eyes as she explained herself and her new status, and his frown twisted darkly until it was nearly a scowl of menace. 'Ughn, c'mon Maebara, smile like your life depends on it! You can't act like you're mad, you want her to be your friend, right?'

"Oh, so you've got a boyfriend? Well that explains a lot, so that's why you've been so busy?" Keiichi attempted to keep his voice light and pleasant, but he could hear the malice that was hiding in his tone. Trying again, he held his hands tightly behind his back and clenched them as he spoke through his teeth, "Wow Mion, I never thought you'd end up dating before me! Who's the unlucky bastard that was desperate enough to go for _you_?"

He could practically hear Shion laughing at him, completely and utterly amused by his faked enthusiasm. "The bastard is me..." Her laughter continued, and for a moment, Keiichi was honestly surprised. 'Huh...?' Blinking, he turned to find the source of the noise, wondering if she _had_ possibly overheard him, only to be confounded when he saw the girl he had come to see across the street.

That alone was enough to push his fragile composure, but ice flooded his veins when he realized that she wasn't by herself. She was giggling and holding onto the arm of a dark-haired boy, who was watching her with warm and playful eyes. He shoved her shoulder gently, and she staggered before letting go of him, raising her fists as if to fight him, and when he ducked, she caught him square on the jaw with a light punch. He knew this familiar play, Mion and him had often sparred like this when they teased each other, but there was a difference here that he caught straightaway.

Mion's smile was absolutely brilliant, truly warm and not the least hesitant as she ducked the boy's open hand and found herself captured by his free arm. He drew her right into his chest and held her by the neck in a playful headlock, ducking his face to press a kiss to the top of her hair. When she yanked herself away, her face had dusted a pink colour and she had trouble looking him in the eyes.

'She's... so happy...'

It burned at him to see that expression on her face, to see how brilliantly dazzled she was in the strange boy's arms. She was struggling but there was no anger, no fear or distaste, just pleasure and happiness that he had only seen before when she was with himself, or Shion.

Filled with this strange feeling, Keiichi couldn't bring himself to call out to her, to break their tender-hearted play. He knew he would snap when she introduced the boy, when she smiled so happily at him... This truth snarling like some beast that had just been caged in his heart, he turned on them and tried desperately to block out their laughter. 'I...'

He brushed his forearm over his eyes, alarmed when it came away wet. Cursing inwardly, he forced himself to look over his shoulder to see the boy winking at Mion, dark eyes glittering as she elbowed his stomach and pat his cheek. A hatred that he'd never felt before surged through him, urging him to tear the arm of the man from Mion's slender shoulders and rip him to shreds for even daring to touch her so intimately. Before he could give in to this anger, he turned his back and walked away, never allowing himself to look back.

**AN**

**Misunderstandings ahoy! (ducks projectiles) Sorry if it wasn't what you were expecting, lol, but... It was all in the plans, sadly. It seems like something that would happen in Higurashi, I'm sorta borrowing this from Shion's chapter and the doll incident, except it's Keiichi that's going through it and not poor Mion. I think I've become a sadist in my stories, lol. Damn. Lol.**

**Sky**


	7. Painful Guilt and Words

Mion's head was spinning with loud thoughts that blocked out the conversation her twin and Rena were having just beside her. The two had tried repeatedly to coax her into the conversation, but her mind was simply somewhere else and after several attempts, they just gave up. Arms folded on the desk, she buried her head in them and moaned inwardly, hating herself for feeling so utterly pathetic. 'He probably just had something to do that held him up. He wouldn't ditch me, he's not like that... Yeah, something came up, that was it... Something he couldn't get away from...'

Even to herself the words sounded oddly pathetic, and she let out a string of broken curses that were thankfully muffled by her forearms. She had spent well over three hours waiting for him, with Kenji at her side for the first. Even though she'd shooed him away, she knew he wouldn't leave, and he'd arrived two hours later to pick her up and force her to return home. He'd done everything from joking to issuing rather violent threats in an effort to cheer her up, but in the end she'd simply thanked him for looking out for her before hiding in her room for the rest of the day. She felt absolutely ridiculous for it, but the absence of her date had stung a lot more than she wanted to let on.

A loud clattering noise, followed by a splash, made Mion jerk her head up and sit abruptly upright. All heads, including her own, whipped around the door and all eyes widened in alarm. Standing in the doorway, dripping wet, stood Keiichi and he didn't look anywhere near amused by the trap. Satoko began laughing as usual, immediately and proudly taking credit for the misfortune she had bestowed upon the teenage boy.

Much to everyone's surprise, there was no outcry, no shout for vengeance or display of fury as everyone expected. Instead, Keiichi kicked aside the bucket that was resting on his foot, and shook his hair out, plucking at his wet clothes as if it were a minor nuisance and nothing to pay attention to. Satoko's eyes narrowed and she stood in a purely defensive posture when he approached her, but he simply walked right by her, eyes on the ground and face a mask of stone.

The entire classroom had gone very quiet at this display, and they were entirely focussed on the uncharacteristically silent teenager as he walked to his desk and sat down in his chair. He rummaged around in his bag, picking out his notebook and pencil with a strange unattached manner. Opening the book, he lowered his eyes to the pages, lifted his pencil and began to work without speaking.

The classroom buzzed back to life at once, though there was a new note to the lively chatter this time. Hanyuu and Rika exchanged frightened glances, both Furudes looking as if they'd been shocked by live wires. Satoko however, looked completely stunned, staring at the forgotten bucket lying on the floor as if she couldn't even see it. After a moment, her shock seemed to have disappeared and she stood ramrod straight with a fearful scowl on her face, an obvious sign that she was planning something utterly horrible. She stalked back to her desk with a growl, throwing herself into her seat and tearing out her notebook with surprising vigour.

Shion sighed with fond exasperation, knowing exactly what her charge was plotting on doing, and she wanted no part in it if she could help it. Still, she was more than just a little surprised at Keiichi's behaviour. It was so unlike him to allow Satoko to get away with anything these days. She had a sinking feeling that she knew what had happened, especially when her sister had returned home with Kenji, wearing a dejected expression that she had tried to turn into a smile. 'Oh no...'

Mion got to her feet, swallowing back her pride in exchange for her concern and she ghosted out of her seat to approach the drenched boy while the classroom was still busily awaiting their teacher. He didn't look up when she approached, but she did see his posture tense. Feigning a nonchalant mood, she leaned over his desk and questioned in her normally cheery manner, "Yo Kei-chan, what's up with you today? It's unusual for you to let Satoko have her way."

Keiichi grimaced and couldn't entirely hold back a shiver at the reminder of his soaked clothing. It only made to worsen his already bad mood, especially when the girl herself was coming to see him. He knew he owed her an explanation for leaving her in the dust on their 'date', yet he was having a difficult time trying to hide his inner anger. He said nothing, grinding his teeth together in an effort to keep his tongue in check and at the same time, control himself.

Mion could only see the muscles in his jaw flex, that alone should have warned her off but her pride was injured and she wanted an answer. His silence only rankled the wound, and she leaned in closer and fought to keep her voice down as she asked him clearly, "What's going on? Did something happen that made you ditch out on yesterday? If there's an excuse you've got, I'd love to hear it."

His entire body tightened in a very noticeable fashion, and his hands clenched into fists underneath the desktop. Turning his head away from Mion's curious and condemning stare, he took in a deep breath through gritted teeth. His voice was very low, low enough that she had to lean in closer to catch his words, but the answer was clear. It was more than clear, the words themselves bit angrily into her ears as he snarled them in that strange intimate space between their inclined heads, "I didn't want to talk to you, I didn't even want to _look_ at you. That's all. I've got work to do, leave me alone."

Mion thought that she heard something shatter, but when she turned around there was no sign of anything having broken in the classroom. Her eyes, wide and disbelieving, stared at the impassive face of her dearest comrade and she knew at once that he meant every word he spoke. His way with words was impressive, it had earned him the title of 'magician', but he was a sorry liar and she had learned it early. There was no bluff in his expression now, only a cold anger and disgust that burnt her down to the very core of her being.

She could not be angry with those eyes, not after what had happened between them in the past few days, the past few weeks. It was a rejection yes, but that alone wasn't enough to turn her fondness to fury, not in such a short amount of time. There was only hurt, a hurt so profound that she wanted to cry aloud until her throat was raw and bloody. Closing her eyes tightly, she fought the conflicting emotions of pain and rage, finally whispering, "Okay. If that's what you want..."

He watched her walk away, watched as she threw herself into her desk and shook her head when Rena and Shion both questioned her. Though he was a few seats away from her, and didn't have the best view of her face, he thought he saw fury glinting in those steely eyes of hers. It would only be much later that he realized that the shine in those brilliant emerald orbs was not a sign of anger, but the wetness of tears that she was trying her best not to shed.

Shion frowned when she saw the pain in her sister's face, and she almost immediately made to get to her feet. Rena's hand shot out to grab her forearm, patiently pulling her back into her chair. Scowling deeply, she turned to her auburn-haired friend in reproach, but was silenced when she saw the glimmering anger in her eyes too. It took her a few moments to breathe, clearing the red haze in her forehead quite effectively with the action. "Ughn... I hate myself so much right now... this is all my fault..."

"It's my fault too, Shi-chan." Rena murmured halfheartedly, her frown tugging downwards in an expression of sadness instead of anger. She wrinkled her nose and slyly glanced out of the corner of her eye towards where Mion was sitting. The oldest of their club seemed engrossed in her homework, which Shion knew was already finished. However she kept raising her hand to brush it against her eyes, as if trying to dislodge a speck of dirt. 'She's crying... Whatever Keiichi-kun said to her, it hurt her deeply.'

"He ditched out on her yesterday, never showed up for their date." Shion muttered under her breath, making sure to keep her voice as soft as possible so Mion wouldn't hear. Rena's ears were perked up sharply, and her eyes flickered from Mion to Keiichi in obvious confusion. Closing her eyes in concentration, she remembered that Kenji had gone into town to see how Mion was holding up in Angel Mort. Her mind needed little room to make the leap, and at once her eyes flitted wide open and her face nearly burst to flames. 'Oh no, did she maybe take off from work with Kenji? Keiichi must have saw her with him and assumed...'

There was a pull at her arm, and Shion turned in confusion before her face paled when she realized who it was that was calling her. Rika stood at her side, face weary as her hand curled around Shion's sleeve, giving it another sharp tug of insistence. Her voice was soft but lacked the normal cheer when she murmured, "Shi..."

Shion wanted to shake away the hand that held onto her clothes, wanted to boldly proclaim that this was all a part of her grand scheme. Looking into the young shrine-maiden's eyes, Shion knew that anything she said would be hallow. Like herself, Rika loved Mion dearly and to see this pain in her struck deep chords in her chest. Closing her eyes, she mumbled quietly, "I know, Rika-chan, I know. It's gone too far. Mion... never was supposed to be hurt like this, neither was Kei-chan. I'll come clean to her tonight."

"I'm afraid the damage may already be done, Shi. Keiichi looks furious, though I can't tell if it's with himself or Mion at this point." Rika snuck a glance at the boy and girl in question, violet orbs softening with an affection that both Shion and Rena knew very well. Rika had no siblings, and while the village itself had adopted her, it was the members of the club that gave her the ideal sense of a family. "I am hoping fiercely that it is only a one-time misunderstanding, and while Keiichi has learned from past mistakes, this is something entirely new to him. Please Shi, and Rena too, take care and hurriedly explain things to Keiichi and Mi. It's not fair for them to suffer like this."

Shion looked meaningfully at Rena, who had nodded and was wearing an expression of strength that spoke volumes. Reaching out, she gently squeezed her shoulder and said quietly, "Rena, I don't want you getting involved anymore. It was my stupid scheme, so I'm gonna take credit for it, alright?"

"Shi-chan, that's not fair–" Rena blurted out louder than she had intended, and she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth and slumped in on herself. A quick glance around the room showed that only a few of the younger students had even glanced their way when she'd spoken. The rest were busy with their own conversations or rushing to finish assignments. She continued in a hiss, "But I knew about it and didn't say anything, why should you take all the blame, why? It's not fair to you to get in all the trouble."

Shion glanced over at Rika, who hadn't spoken, and she could almost feel her fingernails being ripped from her hands, one at a time. It was a painful thing to remember, yet she could still feel the burning memory of guilt in her chest. She had hurt Mion once before, and had sworn never to do so again if she could help it. Especially after seeing the pains Mion had gone through to make them match again. "No... This was my plan, and Sis should hear about it from me, Kei-chan too."

"Whatever you decide to do, Shi, I think I should tell you..." Rika smiled very wanly, her violet eyes seeming to sadden just a little bit when she met the curious emerald belonging to Shion, "I wanted your plan to succeed. I really did. It... seemed right, after everything that happened that Mion's eternal wish came true. It was painful to see her suffer so, time after time... I don't blame you, okay...? I really... don't."

Shion couldn't help but smile, it was a comforting thought that another friend had somewhat gone along with her. Nodding her head in sad affirmation to Rika's warm gesture, she leaned back in her chair and allowed herself to breathe in deeply. It was painful, unbelievably so that everything had spiralled so violently out of control. 'Damn... Sis, I am so sorry that... that I did this to you...'

**AN:**

**... It took me much too long to get back to this. Much too long. I feel like the world's biggest asshole. Double points for coming back and updating WITH THIS. (Shortest update YET!)  
**

**Good news/ bad news, I have more to come, and the plot is going to get better... but still... I'm so mean... In any case, the next chapter should be better, mind you, I will apologize in advance for a chance in writing style. I've kinda got a bit more eloquent since I last wrote this fic... So, just a warning. Eheh.  
**

**PS: Higurashi Kira FTW! I love it already, just because the pvs are making me lose my shit every time I rewatch them.**

**~ Sky**


	8. Sneaking Apologies

_Oh I have a lot to say._

_Was thinking my time away._

_I miss you and things weren't the same._

'_Cause everything inside, it never comes out right,_

_and when I see you cry,_

_it makes me wanna die..._

Keiichi wasn't entirely sure what it was that had triggered his movement, but after sitting alone in his room for hours after that accursed incident earlier that day... Something inside of him had finally snapped and he found himself getting to his feet, changing his clothes, and sneaking out past his thankfully busy parents. He'd swapped his normal red vest for something darker in colour, and also picked a pair of dark sweatpants that would likely help him blend into the dark night that swallowed him whole, bike and all, as he rode the familiar path to the Sonozaki estate.

It was a road well travelled, though too many terrifying memories shadowed the good, but Keiichi found himself thankful that he could still manage to bike there at night if he paid close enough attention. His fingers were curled so tightly around the handlebars that his knuckles had gone white, but the numbness in his hands compared little to the pain in his heart. Throughout the entire day a single image had stuck too harshly with him, and it was the sight of Mion's poorly hidden tears as he'd brushed her away so that he could stew in his own anger and pain.

He didn't much care if he was going to get himself into a mountain of trouble for sneaking out in the middle of the night in order to trespass on private property, because he had only a single goal in mind. While his brain could and already had, given him many other options to do what he wanted to do, for reasons beyond him he was dead set on talking to her _tonight_ and nothing was going to stop him from doing so.

There had been too many interruptions, and too many awkward lapses between them. Too many moments turned sour when things could have been explained. Keiichi hated himself for being so selfish when she was in as much pain as he was, and he refused to allow her to suffer another moment when he could help her out.

"I owe her that much..."

The gates of the estate were closed, but Keiichi wasn't particularly daunted by them. He hid his bike in the bushes beside the walls, and with a maddening gleam in his eyes he took to climbing the nearest tree that thankfully was taller than the wall it stood beside. With every pull of his arm and push of his feet images would fly by in his mind, and words would whisper in his ear of a time much simpler and free. Keiichi grit his teeth together tight as he pulled himself onto a thick limb that just touched the top of the wall, and he growled out as the exertions threatened to make him very sore in the morning, "I'm going to make things right even if it kills me, dammit...!"

As he inched across the limb towards the wall, Keiichi heard the voices of Shion and Rena stating the painfully obvious things that he'd come to regret not paying attention to. A small smile, and a secretive wink, and then a gentle shove but still nothing had gotten through to him. The violet-eyed youth ground his teeth together as he made his way across and began inching down the wall, and he found himself hissing, "Never again...!"

It was a strange mix of guilt, anger and desperation that drove him through the large grounds, but somehow he managed to keep his head about him as he dodged the flashlights and cameras that kept the entire estate safe. He silently thanked Shion and Mion for showing him the tricks to wandering around the place without getting detected, though he had a feeling that neither teenager would be glad about this once they saw him.

"Two floors up, and second window on the right..." Keiichi muttered to himself as he reached the east wall, and he carefully snuck across the yard to find the best, and safest, vantage point. He knew which room he needed to find, and he knelt to the ground to pick up a handful of stones from the gravel walkway before testing his arm with a single throw.

The rock fell short, and Keiichi breathed out in annoyance before taking a quick glance around the yard. The guards were making their rounds in the opposite direction for the moment, and the teenager guessed he had a good ten minutes before they'd be back around. He hastily moved into the security camera's blind-spot and hefted a second pebble into his free hand. He took aim and let it fly, all the while musing if the Sonozakis would deliver his corpse back to his parents for the stunt he was pulling.

The pebble hit the window square and bounced off with a surprisingly louder noise than Keiichi had expected. He cringed in surprise and tried to back up into the shadows, only for his iron-clad nerves to rush back into place to hold him still. He had already broken too many rules to slip away now, and... He had made her cry. The latter fact held him perfectly still, and the first had him taking another stone and launching it at the window again. He was going to see her, even if she told him to leave, because he had to.

'No man makes a woman cry and leaves her alone... and I'm never going to do that to Mion ever again.' Keiichi swore inwardly, and without even waiting for another few seconds he had a third rock thrown at the window, and hoped desperately that she was in her room and was going to check to see what the noise was.

Two more rocks flew within as many minutes, and as he prepared to throw another a shadow passed over the window and made him halt. For a heart-stopping moment Keiichi felt his composure sway, and all of his adrenalin and conviction faded away to be replaced with horror and uncertainty. Was he thinking too much of himself? Would she come to him after everything he had done? Did he really want her to?

His thoughts flickered with a horrifying blur as the shadow passed over the window one more time, and then opened. He swallowed back his emotional turmoil as he watched the green-haired teenager he had come calling on stick her head out the window to see him. She glanced about in confusion, only for her eyes to fall on him after a moment. Her eyes widened, and mouth formed his name as a startled expression grew on her face.

Keiichi forced himself to stand his ground, and he raised a hand to wave half-heartedly at her. She didn't react for a moment, and then held up five fingers and pointed at the ground for him to wait. He nodded his head obediently, and watched as she shut the window and vanished back inside.

He didn't have to wait as long as she'd motioned, and he spotted her sneaking along the walls of the house like a shadow in the night. Her hair was bound up again and her eyes narrowed as she dodged the cameras to get to him. He didn't get a chance to say anything when her hand closed roughly around the front of his shirt and pulled him forward and out of the woods and into a little dip in the house's side.

Mion looked around with narrowed eyes, and she only let out the breath she'd been holding after she confirmed that no one had seen her pull the intruder into one of the few blind spots from her home. She turned to the boy who had somehow managed to elude the security patrolling the house, and she wasn't sure what emotion burned more inside of her when she met his beseeching violet eyes. Enough time had passed since the words they'd exchanged that morning for her anger to awaken, but it wasn't enough to completely destroy her feelings for him. She shoved aside the battle inside of her heart and instead relied on her mind as she hissed tersely, "What in the hell are you doing here? Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you'd be in if you'd been caught? Are you insane?"

Keiichi would have laughed if he hadn't been running on adrenalin and paranoia, but all the same he shook his head and smiled. Her words cut him to the quick, and he had to admit that perhaps he _had _gone off his rocker. Mischief was something he could enjoy, but breaking the law was another matter entirely. He couldn't remember the last time he'd left his house without permission after the incident in his hometown, and now he had snuck out and trespassed on private property all in one night. He tilted his head and answered her question with a truthful, "Yeah, I think I am a bit insane, to be honest."

Mion wasn't sure what to make of that reply, and it showed as she paused. Her anger flared quietly in the back of her mind and it warned her that not only had he put himself at risk but her as well. She could only imagine what sort of hell her grandmother would put her through if she found out about Keiichi sneaking onto their property and stealing away with the next head in the middle of the night. Likewise her anger asked her why she had even bothered to hide him away after the last few hours and she found herself speaking the words that echoed hypnotically in her ears. "Why am I even doing this? Considering what you told me this morning I should've gone and called the dogs instead of coming down to meet you."

He had no smart retort for her, and no banter to smooth over the awkwardness that he felt from her rhetorical and deserved snap. The guilt had ate away at him until he could stand it no more, and that was why he had come. He opened his hands up in a gesture of defeat, and a saddened smile lifted his lips as he said quietly, "You're right." He looked up at the camera that they were hidden away from, and he then shook his head as he explained, "I just... Hell, there's no good explanation. I'll just leave, this was stupid of me."

She wasn't sure what it was inside of her that made her muscles move as he made to step out of the shadows and into the view of the guards. She reached for his arm and yanked him back against the wall with her before she could even think about it. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and annoyance as she snapped, "What the hell is wrong with you? You sneak onto the Sonozaki property in the middle of the night to chuck rocks at my window, and when I finally come out you suddenly decide to turn around and ditch without bothering to explain yourself? I don't bloody think so!"

"I wanted to apologize."

The words stopped her short, and she realized she had been gripping his shirt the entire time she'd scolded him. She let him go immediately and held her hands to her chest, and her heart did a quick drum-roll against her ribcage. She was unsure of how to reply for the second time that night, but she tried anyway when she saw the sincerity on his face. "Kei-chan, you–"

"No, just let me finish." Keiichi asked weakly, and she pressed her lips together in obedience. He shook his head and sighed, and a hand reached for her shoulder and squeezed as he struggled to let the words flow. It had never been a problem for him before to give his thoughts and emotions a verbal form, but now he found himself completely flummoxed. She was staring at him with undisguised concern, and it hurt him when he thought of how rightly she should be pushing him away. The dam inside of his chest burst and he blurted out, "I've been a royal ass to you today, and it was totally out of line. I took out all my anger on you when it wasn't even you I was angry with. I can't explain what it is that's bothering me, but it's been... enough to drive me crazy. I took that out on you, and I'm sorry for that. You... You deserve better, and... and I had to tell you that. I snuck out and did all this because I had to tell you that. I couldn't let what I said to you go."

The anger inside of her snapped and growled at his words, but her injured heart made a leap inside of her too. She had never been one to easily forgive and forget a disservice, but somehow Keiichi knew exactly what buttons to push even if he didn't know it himself. She wanted to toss him out and let him know that she wouldn't be won over by sweet words, but she knew she indeed could be and was. She shook her head too, and slowly she reached up to twine her fingers into the ones that held onto her shoulder. Her voice was incredibly soft as she finally whispered, "You're such an idiot..."

Keiichi chuckled weakly, and the noise was tinged with a hint of hysteria. He nodded his head in agreement but he couldn't release his hold on her, and she seemed to almost be clinging to his hand regardless. He savoured the feeling of her warm skin pressing so desperately against his, but the touch was as searing as it was soothing. He continued on in a quiet sigh, "Look, I... I understand if you don't want to forgive me. I mean, I said... horrible things to you. You've got every right to be mad and to chuck me out on my ass... but... I'm still sorry. I... I mean that."

"I know you do." Mion murmured, and unbidden she tilted her head to the side and brushed her cheek along their entwined fingers. The frustration and hurt of the earlier incident was melting away, and she was left with a gaping hole in her chest that was slowly but surely filling with gratitude and forgiveness. She let out a tired breath and opened her eyes to fix with him a weak smile as she finished, "I forgive you, Kei-chan. You just can't lie."

The warmth in her smile broke the last of the defences he had been holding around himself and he yanked her forward and into his arms. Her gasp of alarm echoed in his ear, but he clasped her close to his chest and pressed his mouth to her ear as he exclaimed feverishly, "I'm sorry. I'm so freaking sorry, Mion. Thank you... thank you!"

"K-Kei-chan..." Mion gasped as she squirmed awkwardly in his tight embrace, and she knew her heart was doing laps now in her chest. He was absurdly warm as he held her, and she found herself hyper-aware of everything about him when they were pressed together. She could feel the wetness of his tears against her neck, and the tickle of his hair as he buried his face there too. His arms were shivering but they held her firm, and his hands held the small of her back in a way that sent chills through her body. She could smell the familiar scent of the woods that he'd crept through to make it to her residence, and it clashed perfectly with his own masculine scent.

"I made a promise that I intend to keep... even though it's killing me to do it." Keiichi muttered hoarsely into her throat, and he felt her hands gripping at the back of his shirt as she stopped all movement in his embrace. He knew Shion would murder him if she ever found out he'd come, let alone mentioned his promise, but he continued on helplessly, "I... I won't... I won't interfere anymore, but I can't say that I'll always behave myself. I... I'm sorry for that..." He drew away slightly, and fixed her with a stare that carried every hint of the intensity he was feeling. The pent-up anger, sadness and desire he felt pierced Mion through his eyes, and her own widened in surprise as he whispered, "But... I'm not sorry for this."

Mion wasn't sure what she meant to do at his words or stare, but whatever plans she had been formulating scattered in an instant when she felt his lips caressing her cheek. Her feet grew roots and she was planted firm to the ground as he kissed her. The touch had to only last for a few seconds, but multiple lifetimes flew by for Mion before he drew away. He released her and gave her a smile before he turned away and vanished into the night.

The young teenager stood in the dark shelter of the overhanging roof, and one hand raised to press against her cheek where he'd kissed her while the other covered her mouth. The sudden intensity he had displayed had honestly scared her, but then he had banished the fear by touching her as if she was made of glass. His words left her mind confused, but she doubted that she'd be able to ever think straight again as her body hummed with pleasure. Her mind was full of static, and she knew she was grinning goofily as she whispered to herself in astonishment, "He... He _kissed_ me..."

**AN**

**Quick enough update, you guys? XD Like geez! I was totally amused by the reviews just demanding I update... You guys are hilarious. In any case... Higurashi Kira. Love it? Hate it? I'm straddling the line. The fanservice wasn't just for me, but I guess that's only because I'm a girl...? I don't know. I didn't enjoy it as much as I could, even though I laughed my way through it for the most part... I can't wait to see the next episode, but I'm still a bit pissed that we need to wait till September for it... Sigh... Oh well, you do what you have to.**

**Sidenote: The song was "Sorry" - Buck Cherry, which fit enough for it. The chapt was short, and a bit fluffy, but... I liked it. XD**

**~ Sky**


	9. New Turns

Mion could have very well stood in place for the rest of the night, contemplating the fact that she'd been hugged and kissed by Keiichi, but she knew that Shion was waiting for her upstairs to continue the talk she'd run out on. She grimaced guiltily at the memory of all but shoving her sister from her room when she'd heard the rocks being pelted at her window. Shion's terse expression had frightened her twin, and as she stood outside in the crisp night air she whispered aloud, "Wonder what she wants to talk about... She hasn't looked that serious in a long time..."

Her pace was slow and measured as she headed back towards the doorway, but she stumbled on the steps as a sudden thought came back to bite her. She grimaced as she reached to steady herself on the wall, and wondered sourly if the mess she had caused in Angel Mort had caused trouble for her twin. 'It'd go a long way to explaining her mood... I am in so much trouble. I hope she didn't lose her job... She'll probably kill me if she did.'

The thought surprisingly didn't elicit much of a reaction from her, and she smiled awkwardly as she felt the rush of blood warm her cheeks once more. Her feet automatically began retracing the path upstairs, and she giggled quietly to herself, "Dying tonight wouldn't be _so_ bad, considering everything else that happened..."

"What do you mean 'everything else'?"

"Gah!" The voice had come from the darkness on Mion's left, and she almost fell over in her shock at her twin's sudden materialization from the shadows. Whirling on the offending teenager with a hand settled over her racing heart, Mion glared at her as she hissed, "Give me some warning next time, will you?! God, you nearly gave me a heart-attack!"

"You did just say dying tonight wouldn't be so bad." Shion pointed out with a toss of her hair and a hint of a mischievous grin. Despite her annoyance, Mion found herself returning the smile unconsciously, and Shion tilted her head to the side in surprise at the lack of resistance to her charm. Bringing a hand to her chin, the younger of the twins skipped back a step as if to fully take in her sister as she asked, "Something just happened, didn't it? I was looking for you after you didn't come back, and for whatever reason, you had gone outside. Care to tell me what you were doing that made you pretty much bowl me over in your haste to get out?"

"Uh..." Mion's face burst into a furious blush despite her every plea otherwise, and she stared down at the floor guiltily. She did feel bad about running out so abruptly on her sister, but her surprise at seeing Keiichi on their property so late at night, throwing rocks at her window no less, had demanded her attention. While she was glad she had decided to go and see him first, now she wasn't sure if she was embarrassed because of what happened or ashamed that someone else had taken importance over her twin.

Eyes narrowing somewhat, Shion now took a step closer and peered at her fidgeting sister. Mion had a bad habit of being unable to keep up a lie to the people she cared about, and she tended to blush quite easily much to her constant mortification. Arms crossing over her waist, Shion tapped a finger to the side of her face as she repeated, "Are you going to tell me, or are am I going to have to guess? Whatever happened was obviously good, because you were grinning like a moron when you came in..."

"I was not grinning like a moron!" Mion protested hotly, and her ears seemed to burn as her blush crept steadily upwards. Shion simply stood where she was, wearing a disbelieving scowl as she waited patiently for Mion to lose steam and finally cave in. It didn't take as long as she had hoped it would, as Mion turned her gaze to the floor and began pulling on her ponytail in embarrassed nervousness. She answered with a single word as her face heated up by a few more degrees, "Kei-chan."

For a brief moment, Shion forgot every secret she was supposed to be keeping under lock and key. Her lips parted with an audible pop, and her eyes widened to saucers. From Mion's expression whatever Keiichi had come to speak to her about had gone quite a long way in healing her hurt feelings and lightening her mood, which filled Shion with relief and a bit of gratitude. She had been scared she had caused irreversible damage to her twin, but teenage emotions had proved to be more resilient than she'd thought.

Mion's face, if it was possible, now turned even redder. She studied her feet, unable to meet Shion's wide and questioning eyes as she forced herself to explain in a sheepish murmur, "He was pelting rocks at the window, and when I saw him I didn't want you to know, so I kinda shoved you out of my room. I went down to meet him, and I was going to yell at him, but... He started talking, and I had to listen."

"What did he say?" Shion asked quickly as a bolt of fear went through her heart, and she wondered worriedly if Keiichi had reneged on his word and spilled everything to her to explain away his attitude. 'Oh damn, get ready for a lot of apologizing and possibly some running. They'll both kill me...'

"To be honest, half of what he was talking about didn't make much sense." Mion admitted with a slight giggle, and she mused that it was the first time Keiichi wasn't eloquent. Of course, that meeting had been the first of quite a lot of things, so she couldn't mind his awkward stumbling too much. "I came out ready to give him hell, and... He apologized. He said he felt terrible for being such an ass, and he was really sorry. When I said I'd forgive him... He hugged me."

Shion was torn between relief and amusement, and she raised an eyebrow as she noted Mion's fingers touching a spot on her cheek almost unconsciously as she talked about Keiichi's apology. Leaning forward and peering upwards with a laughing smile, Shion pointed to the exact spot as she asked slyly, "That's not all he did, was it? Look at you blushing like a schoolgirl!" With a loud giggle when Mion could only nod in mute pleasure, Shion clapped her hands triumphantly before bounding forward to engulf her twin in the biggest hug she could manage while jumping up and down in excitement. "Ooh, he _kissed _you! This is _great_! You're making progress!"

"C-Come on, it wasn't like he–" Mion tried to protest but Shion wasn't letting her, and she felt her insecurities being washed away by her sister's enthusiasm. It was true that she was still trying to digest half of what Keiichi had tried to tell her, but most of her mind was still focussed on the memory of his lips touching her cheek. With a stifled giggle, she smiled at her beaming sister and asked happily, "I guess I am making progress, huh?"

"Oh yeah!" Shion grabbed her sister by the hand before she could protest and starting running down the hall, giggling madly as she went. Mion followed her gamely, and Shion called over her shoulder with excitement, "Come on, we have got to call Rena and let her know! If you tell her in person she'll have you halfway to her house before you even finish explaining, it'll be safer over the phone!"

A sudden resistence made Shion stop, and confused she turned to see Mion frowning at the floor as if she had suddenly become troubled. Eyes narrowing somewhat at her fun being spoiled, Shion let her sister's wrist go and asked grumpily, "Now what?"

"Are you sure Rena is going to want to know? I mean... I've talked to her about Kei-chan a lot, but... I... I always thought she liked Kei-chan too." Mion hugged her arms to her chest now that Shion had released her, and she felt a sharp pain enter her heart at the thought of causing her best friend pain by going over her own delirious excitement. Rena had scolded her somewhat fierce the last time she had mentioned her anxiety over Keiichi, but never once had she thought of asking the auburn-haired girl what _she_ felt about the entire arrangement. "I... don't want to hurt her..."

Shion was silent for a moment, watching her sister fuss over the thought that she could hurt her best friend by being so happy. If she hadn't discussed the same issue with Rena earlier that week, she would have been a little worried and feeling guilty about it herself. The thought made her smile wanly as she mused inwardly, 'It's almost scary, how alike they are in their friendship. Then again... the entire group is like this, isn't it? Worrying and trying to make sure their happiness is divided equally, so no one is ever left out... Even if she joked about it, Sis was always concerned about Rena's feelings, rival for Kei-chan or not.'

Sighing, Shion shook her head as she automatically raised the pitch of her voice to mimic the girl she quoted verbatim. The wiords needed to be said, and while she apologized inwardly for betraying the confidence of her friend, her sister's concern needed to be addressed as she repeated, "_'I... I do _like_ Keiichi-kun, but... I_ love_ Mi-chan.'_"

Eyes widening in surprise, Mion looked up from the floor as Shion stood in the hallway with her arms crossed and her eyes glinting with seriousness. Before she could ask her to explain, Shion did so with a bit of a sigh, "I asked her already, because I was worried about her and you having a falling out over this. Rena was pretty blunt about it, even if she was embarrassed. I... I think she always knew you and Kei-chan were going to dance around each other until doomsday, so she took a step back for you. True, she may have a crush on him... but you were her first friend when she moved here. She loves you, and that's what matters to her more."

Biting down on her lower lip, Mion felt that familiar surge of guilt go through her chest at the admission of her friend's feelings. Part of her twisted in jealousy, hearing that she liked Keiichi, and she remembered well how she despaired when she'd compared herself with the bubbly auburn-haired girl. 'I never thought I'd be able to win against her because of how cute she was... and the entire time she was supporting me. God... I feel like such an ass.'

The distress was clear on her sister's face, and sighing, Shion stepped forward and gave the troubled girl another hug. Patting her gently on the back, she reassured her quietly, "You never hurt her feelings, you know. Plus, if you had, wouldn't Rena had made it clear that you did? If she hadn't been happy for you, hadn't supported you, she wouldn't have done half of what she'd been doing. You know her better than I do, so tell me I'm lying. Would she have championed you like she's been doing if she didn't really want you to succeed with Kei-chan?"

"I got to say sorry to her, though." Mion mumbled into her sister's shoulder, and she returned the hug fiercely, needing the comfort her twin was offering to her. "I have to. I don't want her to think I don't care about how she feels."

Pulling back from the hug, Shion held her sister by the shoulders and said firmly without a hint of supplication in her tone, "Which is why she never told you, because she knew it'd make you upset, and then _you_ would have stepped back to let her at Kei-chan. The two of you are really idiotic that way." She paused, laughed once, and then corrected herself with a shake of her head, "Actually, scratch that. _All_ of us are idiotic that way. It's almost like a game, really. All of us determined to take a bullet for each other because we love each other too much. You, however, are especially bad, Miss Club Leader."

Mion winced a little at the gentle gibe, remembering with a guilty frown how she had stepped in front of her friends when Takano had levelled her gun with a single bullet at them. She'd made the proud declaration that as the club leader it was her duty to protect her comrades, and despite their protests, she truly had been ready to die for all of them that day. It still gave her nightmares, thinking about that bullet finding its home in the heads of her friends. She was only glad that by whatever miracle, Hanyuu had been spared that fate, let alone everyone else because of the lavender-haired girl's courage and ability to trigger Takano's temper so she couldn't shoot straight.

However, she knew her sister and turned the compliment with the sting on its end back towards her twin with a frigid, "If my memory serves me, you and Kasai pulled a similar stunt way before I had my chance to be a human shield. Don't say I'm the only one who has a complex when it's really not true."

Smiling without a hint of apology, Shion took the bitter treat gracefully and with a melodramatic bow. The move earned her a fondly exasperated swat to her ear, but she laughed as she repeated dutifully, "Which is why I said all of us are idiots. Life is fragile... but we still love each other too much to care. Whether it's taking a bullet or stepping aside to give a friend a fair chance at a crush... I think we don't have many limits of what we'll do for each other. All we can really do is accept the kindness and be a good enough friend that we honestly use the chances they give us."

"You're way too wise tonight." Mion laughed with a shake of her head, and she nudged Shion gently in the shoulder as she began her trek back to her room "Are you really my sister?"

"Last I checked."

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Club Room**

"It's your deal, Shion-san."

"Bah, you guys are all cheating."

"Oh suck it up. You had the worst hand."

"You're my sister, Mion, you should be supporting me!"

"You still lost, you did, you did!"

"Rena has a point, nipah! Right, Hanyuu?"

"Mm, she does. Those are the rules..."

"I will get all of you for this. I _know_ you're cheating!"

"Just deal the cards, already!"

Caving under the pressure of her friends' laughter, Shion took the deck from the centre of the table and started to shuffle it grumpily. Satoko was gloating over her victory in the last hand, suffused with pride now that her losing streak was well and truly broken, and Rika was trying her best not to laugh while Hanyuu tried to straighten out the maid outfit she was forced to wear because of yesterday's penalty game as the defacto loser in Old Geezer. Rena was patiently being restrained by a snickering Mion, but every so often it seemed the girl was almost, but not quite, ready to make a run for it with Hanyuu waving like a flag behind her. Keiichi had supplied a belt to tie the hyperactive thief to her chair, but everyone knew it wouldn't stop her if she really decided to get loose.

As she shuffled the cards, Shion tried to hide a smile as she noticed neither Keiichi or Mion could look at each other without blushing and hastily looking away. She knew Rena had picked up on it, but for their sakes she was saying nothing, instead focussing all of her energy on Hanyuu to save them from embarrassment. If Hanyuu was aware of being the scapegoat she never mentioned it, but rather spent most of the game trying to edge her seat as far away from Rena as possible, which wasn't very far considering Satoko had expertly placed them side by side for added punishment. Rika found the entire situation hilarious, and was constantly trying to stifle her laughter while poking fun at the cat tail and ears Hanyuu was wearing along with the maid dress.

Shion couldn't help but wonder if Rika's good mood was a side-effect of seeing that the trouble yesterday with Mion and Keiichi seemed to have abated. Satoko had also ignored yesterday as a product of Keiichi's bad mood, though she hadn't apologized and was constantly ready for payback just in case Keiichi was still holding a grudge. Shion mused she would eventually tell the blond that Keiichi probably didn't even remember the incident because of his late-night trip to their home, but that could always wait.

"Hey Shion, is it true that Angel Mort is hosting some kind of show the weekend after next? I saw the signs in Okinomiya. Do you know anything about it?"

Blinking in surprise, Shion's hands stopped the shuffling motion to look over at Keiichi who was now staring at her curiously. She sent a baffled look at Mion, who cursed under her breath and whacked herself in the head before answering for her out-of–the-loop sister, "Sorry, I was supposed to tell you two days ago. It slipped my mind. Yeah, they're having a bit of a talent show thingy with the waitresses who work there. The hobby shop I work at is getting involved too. There are prizes for the best act."

Shuffling now completely forgotten, Shion sat stunned in her chair as she tried to digest the sudden weight that had hit her by surprise and fairly knocked her for a loop. Anger quickly followed her shock, and turning her head slowly as her eyes began to glint, she pierced Mion with the deadliest glare she had ever formed as she asked with deceptive calm, "Let me get this straight. _You_ forgot to tell _me_, that _I_ have to perform at _my_ job two weeks from now?"

Mion summed up her fate in four clear words as the silence of the classroom surrounded her, and she felt the gazes of all her friends lock on her in wait for her eventual death at her sister's hands, "I'm a dead woman."

With a roar that would have made a tiger proud, Shion almost flew from her chair and over the table on her haste to get to her sister. Mion luckily ducked the first stroke, and with her superior agility danced to the left and made a run for the door. Unfortunately, Shion was closer and blocked her escape, leaving the two twins at a painful standoff. "You are so dead! I don't even have words to describe how dead you are once I get my hands on you!"

Keiichi watched the odd dance the two engaged in with a hint of guilt, but he felt a smug sense of satisfaction for upending Shion's world, even if it was accident. She had successfully done the same to his own universe with blase carelessness, though he hadn't reacted with nearly as much fury. Trying to suppress a laugh as Shion got shockingly close to actually capturing her fleeing sister, he asked Rena conversationally, "What do you think she should do for her performance? Depending on how many people know about her and Mion, she could maybe incorporate being a twin into some sort of magic trick."

"I think all the people Shi works with know that she's a twin, or else Mi is really good at being her." Rika shook her head and put in her own two cents before Rena could answer, and as Keiichi looked over to see why she wasn't paying attention to him, he choked on his laughter.

Rena had wisely taken advantage of the twins' distraction to take a hold of Hanyuu and squeeze her in an ecstatic embrace, and the poor girl was squeaking in protest that couldn't be heard over Shion's shouting. Rika was ignoring the two as best she could, but the smile on her lips proved she wasn't completely able to.

Satoko leaned forward and supplied her own opinion as she took the forgotten cards and started shuffling them absent-mindedly, "I don't think that'd work very well. Shion-san and Mion-san are really good at switching positions, but it would be really different on a stage."

"Them doing something together would be cute though, it would, it would!" Rena burst out, and with a big and triumphant smile, she simply picked Hanyuu up and carried her like a doll to be placed in her lap when she moved closer to the others to join in on their conversation.

Hanyuu, now deciding the safest thing to do would be ignore Rena's grip around her middle, chimed in with an embarrassed squeak, "I agree with Rena. It'd be fun to see them both perform something together, though I don't really know what they could–" The young goddess' words ended in a startled exclamation as Rena stood up and swung her in a circle, cheering happily for her agreement and overcome with her love for all things cute. As the spinning picked up in speed, Hanyuu cried out for mercy above Rena's ecstatic laughter, "Eeek! Rena, please stop, I'm dizzy!"

Still trying to ignore them, Rika tilted her head thoughtfully to the side with a single finger pressing against her cheek. She mused slowly, unsure of her words as Mion continued her flight from Shion in the background, "Shi and Mi would probably win hands-down if they both did something onstage. They are pretty talented when they put their heads together." A triumphant shout interrupted her musing, proving that Shion had finally got the upper hand and had captured a very frightened Mion. Rika didn't even bother to turn around as she finished flatly, "And aren't trying to kill each other."

"What do you think they could do together? I can't think of many things two people can do in a talent competition." Keiichi mused with a hand on his chin in a thoughtful pose. He couldn't help but glance over Rena's shoulder to see Shion know trapping Mion in a headlock. She seemed to be squeezing the breath slowly but surely out of her twin, but Keiichi knew better than to intervene, and so he continued as best he could without laughing or sounding worried, "Maybe a scene from a play, or a drama?"

"That's not very cute..." Rena protested with a bit of a pout as she stopped spinning. Hanyuu hung limply from her arms, groaning quietly as her face took on a hint of green from her dizziness. Rena didn't seem to notice, and swayed absently from side to side as she mused, "It has to be something cute if it's the two of them..."

"Well, it's not as if there's a shortage of costumes they could wear." Rika agreed with a hint of a smile, and she glanced almost sympathetically at Hanyuu but made no protest for her good friend's plight. Satoko nodded in agreement to Rika but had no chance to add on her own two cents as Mion somehow managed to escape Shion's hold and was running away again, yelling something about an attempted murder she was going to take to the police.

"That's it!" Rena leapt a foot in the air, and her delighted exclamation put a stop to the chatter and flight in the classroom. Shion, who had been in the midst of grabbing Mion by the ponytail looked up in bafflement, and everyone's eyes went to Rena as she grinned from ear to ear and turned on the twins. Pointing one finger at them, with her other arm still securing Hanyuu to her chest like a doll, she declared happily, "The two of you can sing a duet at the competition!"

**AN:**

**-screams and ducks any incoming fans-**

**You guys love this fic, don't you? XD It amuses me so much. Well, amuses probably isn't the right word, lol. I swear, I've never gotten so many demands to update a fic... ever.**

**Anyway, so here is your chapter... and I swear to Oyashiro, I WILL finish this fic before Higurashi no Naku no Koro Ni: Kaku is released! I refuse to be left behind by an OVA... especially if it threatens my ship! (which I doubt, lol). **

**So, yes, before anyone asks, you will be getting to see the twins sing. What they'll be singing, though... I wonder if anyone can guess? I'll be nice and give you a hint... The song doesn't appear in the anime, but it is associated with it. (It's not just a song I'm pulling out of my ass, essentially. It's got some meaning to the anime, lol) Is that too vague? :3 Tell you what, if I get a correct guess, I'll reward the reviewer with a sneak peek at the next chapter!**

**PS: Any otome game fans out there? (Yes? THEN RECOMMEND ME SOME GOOD ENGLISH-PATCHED ONES! -desperate weeping-) Ahem... If so, has anyone played one called Yo-Jin-Bo? I'm in love with that game right now. I spend half my time laughing at it, and the other half giggling like a schoolgirl. Seriously, half of the shout-outs are so goddamn random they almost, but not quite, ruin the mood of the entire scenario... but they also make the game very fun to play... I was nearly crying when the boys started singing "Achy Breaky Heart". Ahh, my Jin and Ittosai... :3 Funny that I end up loving the mortal enemies, eh? But Jin's so adorkable, and Ittosai... is so not. Well, he is, but he's also... Well, he's goddamn sexy, that's what he is. (Punish me all you want, Ittosai! -squeals-) Wait, sorry, was that my outdoor voice...? I should shut up. Like, right now. -runs off to replay-**

**Mood: Intensely Amused**

**Listening To: "Umineko No Naku no Koro Ni" - Akiko Shikata**

**PS: I'm seriously starting to consider begging Cherrylin to edit my work. Thank you girl for saving my hide with another one of your correction binges! YOU BE MY HERO.**

**~ Sky**


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